J'Ouvert celebration canceled for second year in a row

Organizers say the decision was made to cancel the pre-dawn Labor Day celebration because of concerns surrounding the spreading delta variant.

News 12 Staff

Aug 27, 2021, 12:34 PM

Updated 1,143 days ago

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This year's J'Ouvert celebration has been canceled, organizers say, the latest in a recent string of cancellations caused by concerns surrounding the spread of the delta variant.
J'Ouvert City International says the decision was made to cancel the pre-dawn parade on Labor Day because the cons outweigh the pros when looking at the bigger picture of the health, wellbeing and safety of participants.
"With occasions to socialize at crowd level greatly compromised due to the pandemic, fundraising opportunities came to a screeching halt," says Yvette Rennie, president of the organization. "And even though our city has opened up for business, the delta variant of the COVID-19 is now so much of a concern that it quelled our desire to congregate even in some small measure."
This announcement comes just a week after the cancellations of this year's West Indian American Day Parade and Coney Island's annual Mermaid Parade, for which organizers also pulled the plug due to COVID-19 concerns.
The organizers of the J'Ouvert celebration say they are still organizing smaller events in collaboration with the Brooklyn Arts Council and under the banner of "Bringing J'Ouvert to the Forefront."
J'Ouvert City International promises that the celebration will come back "bigger and better in 2022," and says they are confident that the cancelation of this year's parade is the "most responsible thing to do at this moment in time."