Toronto festival organizer calls on city to fund safety upgrades after Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy
City to meet with festival organizers on Thursday to discuss potential security upgrades
A Toronto festival organizer is calling on the city to help fund new local safety measures after a car ramming at the Lapu-Lapu Day Filipino block party in Vancouver killed 11 people last weekend.
The city is set to meet with festival organizers — including Kristyn Gelfand, producer of Do West Fest in Toronto's Little Portugal neighbourhood — on Thursday to discuss enhancing event security.
Gelfand said she'll be asking the city to fund hostile mitigation measures, such as concrete planters and barriers designed to resist vehicles, if those become mandatory.
"We already have a finite amount of funds that we're working with for 2025," she said in an interview with CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Thursday.
"It would definitely be an issue if we were told by the city today that we need to have those without having additional support from the city to provide it."
Gelfand said the city evaluates festivals individually and has not previously required hostile vehicle mitigation at Do West Fest. But if that changes, the additional cost could range between $40,000 to $80,000, she said.
Without city support, she said the festival may need to seek emergency funding from the Little Portugal BIA, which presents the festival.
'I do not want to see any festival being cancelled': Chow
In an email to CBC Toronto, city spokesperson Imane Boussa said Thursday's meeting will "gather insights on potential risks and discuss available city supports." It is not open to the media.
Discussions will inform a Festival Safety Summit on May 26 "where the city, partners and organizers will further explore safety measures and potential enhancements," she said.
Mayor Olivia Chow said she will be meeting with the festival organizers to "come up with some kind of solution."
Speaking at an unrelated announcement in North York on Thursday, she said, "Whether it's what they can do or what the city can do, we will figure out a way forward."
Chow referred to a city announcement from last month that it will provide $2.5 million in funds to festival organizers in 2025 — a 33 per cent increase in funds compared to last year.
"I do not want to see any festival being cancelled because of cost, which is why we increased the [funding]," she said. "We will find ways to keep people safe."
Crowd barrier fencing not effective, organizer says
Do West Fest has used crowd barrier fencing in past years, but Gelfand said that measure isn't effective against vehicles.
In 2023, an intoxicated driver broke through the fencing before the event started, injuring a pedestrian and hitting a hydro pole.
"We've seen that they actually do nothing to stop a car," she said.
Do West Fest involves 200 brick and mortar businesses, as well as 200 additional small artisan and food vendors, Gelfand said. She estimated the festival generates millions of dollars in economic impact.
"The city needs to step in and act as a true partner for these festivals and understand that Toronto is a thriving and vibrant and economically diverse city because of events like this."
Do West Fest is happening from June 6 and June 8 along Dundas Street W., from Ossington Avenue to Lansdowne Avenue.
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With files from Metro Morning