Dauphin Ukrainian festival cancelled

The 2026 edition of Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival has been cancelled due to a lack of nearby health-care options in Dauphin.

The festival’s board of directors released a statement Thursday night saying it “determined that we cannot confidently provide the safe environment” needed for the event to take place. The cancellation comes after flooding displaced staff at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre.

“Emergency health-care services have been relocated to rural communities more than 30 minutes away, creating significant challenges in providing timely medical care for the event,” the board wrote.

After the Dauphin Regional Health Centre, including the emergency department, sustained flooding damage this summer, it was closed, and was not expected to reopen by the time of the festival, the board of directors wrote. Premier Wab Kinew said on Friday the most recent estimates put the hospital’s reopening between nine and 12 months into the future.

The festival was scheduled to run from July 31 to Aug. 2. The Selo Ukraina festival site was not directly affected by flooding.

All tickets that had been purchased for the 2026 festival will be eligible for use next year, or can be refunded. The refund process will be posted on the festival’s social media pages and website in the coming days.

The decision to cancel followed consultation between the organizers and the City of Dauphin, the RM of Dauphin, local political representatives and the event’s insurance provider.

Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak said on Friday that he is hearing commendations and complaints about the cancelled festival.

“There’s a range of responses. Many people are applauding the festival, saying, ‘It’s a terrible time in Dauphin; people are recovering, and it might be inappropriate to be celebrating when other people are suffering,” Bosiak said. “You have the exact opposite from some other people who are saying, ‘I was looking forward to this. It would be the bright sunshine for a few days in a period of darkness.’”

Dauphin has been significantly impacted by flooding due to heavy rains this summer.

In addition to the loss of friends, family and loved ones coming to visit community members, the cancellation is a financial hit to the area, the mayor said.

“It’s a multimillion-dollar economic loss,” he said. “That’s the second biggest festival of the summer, it generates about $3.5 to $4 million of economic activity in our community.”

Julia Krykavska, a volunteer for Brandon’s Ukrainian-Canadian Association, Tryzub, said about 12 volunteers typically go up for the weekend.

“There is a lot of disappointed people who were planning on going,” she said. “I am personally attending pretty much every year. It’s just so nice to be around that Ukrainian cultural heritage and everything.”

Krykavska added that while the cancellation is disappointing, it is “totally understandable” that the event was shut down because conditions are unpredictable and safety comes first.

The Tryzub organization usually sells souvenirs in order to raise money to send to Ukraine, she said.

Vartan Davtian, president of Tryzub, said the cancellation of the Dauphin festival is mostly a loss to quality time, rather than a financial concern.

“It’s more like a celebration, spend time with friends together,” he said. “It’s more that than the financing part.”

Since the cancellation was announced weeks ahead of the event, he said volunteers may look to other events in order to keep up fundraising and engage with Ukrainian culture this summer.

“Since this one is not gonna work, we’re gonna kind of look around, see what else is around, and we’re gonna go somewhere else,” he said. “We still are ahead of time, so we can still reschedule our plans and do something else.”

He noted that the Folklorama in Winnipeg, which starts on Aug. 2, may be an option.

Davtian said that he believes Tryzub will retain its tickets for the Dauphin festival for next year when it is expected to return.

The festival’s board of directors noted in their release that they thank the community for staying engaged and involved despite the bad news of the cancellation.

“Our board of directors extends its sincerest gratitude to our performers, volunteers, sponsors, vendors, partners, staff and loyal festival supporters for your patience, understanding and continued support during this challenging time,” the board wrote.

They added that the community has been significantly impacted by the flood — and that they hope everyone will come back next year.

“Our hearts remain with everyone across the Parkland region, who have been impacted by flooding, and the local state of emergency. We look forward to welcoming all of you back to the Selo Festival site in 2027.”

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com