Regina Folk Festival closes its doors, citing dwindling arts funds

Author Sharlene Gandhi

After 55 years, the Board of Directors for the Regina Folk Festival say the event will close, citing “financial constraints and reduced operational capacity.” 

Festival sponsors included Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, TD Bank,  and SK Arts, a provincial arts and culture funder. 

Last year, the festival decided to deliver a concert series instead of a festival program.  All ticket sales will be refunded. 

The Regina Folk Festival will join a growing list of Canadian festivals and live events that have closed  their doors after the pandemic; in Montreal, the Just for Laughs comedy festival was cancelled last year due to rising costs. 

In British Columbia, the Rockin’ River Music Festival closed for similar reasons, while the Vancouver Folk Music Festival went on a temporary hiatus before making a return.  

In Toronto, the Hot Docs cinema also temporarily shut down to stabilize its finances. It is now ready to host its annual documentary festival later this year. 

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  • Sharlene Gandhi is the Future of Good editorial fellow on digital transformation.

    Sharlene has been reporting on responsible business, environmental sustainability and technology in the UK and Canada since 2018. She has worked with various organizations during this time, including the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University, AIGA Eye on Design, Social Enterprise UK and Nature is a Human Right. Sharlene moved to Toronto in early 2023 to join the Future of Good team, where she has been reporting at the intersections of technology, data and social purpose work. Her reporting has spanned several subject areas, including AI policy, cybersecurity, ethical data collection, and technology partnerships between the private, public and third sectors.

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