Tirgan’s Announcement Regarding Nowruz Festival 2020

While Tirgan was closely monitoring the evolving situation following the coronavirus epidemic, its individual committees set out to urgently collect the information required to make the most appropriate decision for the festival and the community, under the circumstances.⠀

This information included status updates issued by governmental health authorities, the global status of the epidemic, Tirgan’s commitments to our volunteers, artists, sponsors, organizations involved, service and product providers; and ultimately, the opinions and concerns of the Iranian community and the community at large.⠀

Naturally, the process of making major decisions in a large organization like Tirgan, with more than 500 volunteers, tens of artists, numerous sponsors, and interactions with other institutions, is more complicated than it may seem and altering programs that have been in the works for months, demands time, thorough consideration and collective wisdom.⠀
On Wednesday March 4, 2020, the Tirgan Board of Directors, the Executive Directors and some of the key volunteers held a meeting to address the issues and listen to the status and financial reports from different committees, as well as the concerns of the Tirgan family and the Iranian-Canadian community.⠀

In conclusion, we made the following decisions:⠀

• The fourth Tirgan Nowruz Festival won’t be held in its traditional format, with the physical presence of audience.⠀
• One or more programs will be selected for live or pre-recorded broadcast at a pre-determined time, to be announced later. The program dedicated to the victims of flight 752 will also be included.⠀
• Other programs like Sima Bina’s concert, will be re-scheduled as individual events at later dates, pending the availability of the artists and venues.⠀
• Current ticket-holders can get a refund by contacting the box office at the Meridian Arts Centre.⠀

We hope these decisions will not only help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but will also bring the Iranian-Canadian and the global Iranian communities together, while promoting Iranian art and culture.⠀

Looking forward to better days.⠀
Happy Nowruz in advance!