TORONTO, Canada – Already disappointed by the non-staging of both the opening ceremony and matches in this year’s Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 cricket tournament, Torontonians, mainly of Guyanese and Caribbean heritage, are forced to endure yet another setback with the cancellation of the annual Guyana Festival.

The extravaganza, now in its 19th year and which attracts hundreds of Guyanese living in Toronto and beyond, will not be held this year according to an official release from the Guyana Consulate here.
The release pointed out that the Guyana Festival Committee met recently “and took the tough decision to cancel the Guyana Festival for 2014.”
This festival, which in previous years attracted several prominent Guyanese cricketers in Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Clive Lloyd and the late Roy Fredericks among others, was scheduled to be held on June 22, at the Soccer Centre in Vaughan.
However, over the past few years despite maintaining its popularity, the annual clash between a Guyana XI and a team featuring Guyanese players in a Canadian side had been cancelled mainly because of sponsorship.
The main attraction became a feature softball match between teams from the Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) and the Canadian Softball Cricket Association (CSCA) and teams from these associations were gearing for the much-anticipated faceoff.
The Festival Committee pointed out that the decision was taken after a very lengthy discussion that encompassed all of the levels of planning of the festival and it was decided that the event was facing some challenges this year.
The officials, however, gave the assurance that much emphasis and focus of their work will be channelled into next year and beyond.
The committee noted that next year will be quite significant for the staging of the festival since it will mark its scheduled 20 years in Toronto, and will also coincide with province-wide celebrations and events for the 2015 PanAm Games, which is also expected to feature several Guyanese athletes.
The organisers opined that “this important anniversary will help to fuel a grand celebration in 2015, and will serve as a kick-off to observances for Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary in 2016.”

(Frederick Halley}