Calgary Jazz Festival Folds

Canadian jazz news

Calgary Loses Jazz Festival

The Jazz Festival Calgary Society has announced in a press release Monday it will not be producing a 10-day jazz festival this year.

In a release from the Jazz Festival Calgary Society, unexpected demands of creditors and a shortage of government funding were cited as the reasons for the cancellation. The release also said staff at the festival have been asked to resign. “We could not put them through the stress of another festival year knowing that the funding support necessary for the success of the festival might not be there when it is most needed.”

John Hyde, the president of the Calgary Music Association, had mixed feelings about the announcement. While it is only a loss of one or two dates for most musicians, he said, “the perception is the thing of concern, the perception that jazz isn’t doing well in Calgary.”

It was not known if the festival would return in 2007.