The decision to change the Festival dates came from the challenges the imagineNATIVE team has faced in recent years as an Indigenous-led non-profit organization (inflation, economic, timing, and capacity, to name a few). Moving the Festival to a time of the year where everyone’s attention is on Indigenous-led programming makes a lot of sense, and will create an opportunity for us to develop new partnership opportunities, as well as collaborate with and uplift other Indigenous organizations in Tkaron:to.
This decision was made with the support of the imagineNATIVE staff and board, and in consultation with partners, funders, artists, and other key stakeholders in the Festival.