Manitoba 150 Bachman, Cummings concert postponed

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/04/2020 (1483 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Plans to have Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings play at a free outdoor concert to celebrate Manitoba 150 have come Undun.

The show, scheduled for June 27 at the Manitoba legislature grounds, was postponed by Manitoba 150 organizers Friday, the latest Manitoba arts casualty caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The concert’s organizers, Smith Events, gave no hint at when the postponed show would be, only saying in a statement they were trying to set up an alternate date later in the year. No other comment was made.

Manitoba events taking place throughout the summer have had to contend with the difficult decision to postpone or cancel due to the pandemic, and the resulting restrictions on public gatherings issued by the provincial and federal governments.

Another of those tough choices took place earlier Friday when the Manitoba Summer Fair, scheduled for June 3-7 at Brandon’s Keystone Centre, was cancelled.

“The health and safety of our community is of the utmost importance,” Ron Kristjansson, general manager of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, which oversees the fair, said in a release.

The Provincial Exhibition had already cancelled the much-larger Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, which was to be held March 30-April 4. In the release, Kristjansson said the loss of the two festivals is an $18-million blow to the Brandon and Manitoba economies.

“What’s even more difficult is this doesn’t just affect our fair. There are hundreds of local businesses who rely on our events to generate revenue to support their families,” he said.

The Red River Ex, which is planned for June 12-21 and attracts more than 200,000 people to its midway, carnival and agricultural exhibition in west Winnipeg, will decide in mid-April how it will proceed, chief executive officer Garth Rogerson, said Friday.

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@AlanDSmall