The long-running Canada Rock Fest in Grand Forks, formerly known as Cannafest, has been cancelled for 2023, organizers have announced.
Organizer Chuck Varabioff posted on social media on the weekend that health concerns were the reason he had made the decision to cancel the 2023 edition of the popular music festival.
“Today is an emotional day for me,” Varabiof wrote on Facebook. “After eight years I have made the difficult decision to cancel CannaFest/Canada Rock Fest 2023.
“This decision was not an easy one because I love what I have done over the last eight years.”
“I am not sure what the future holds but I am grateful for the past eight years and wouldn’t change much.
“All ticket holders will be refunded in full. I will be sending out an email and posting on all of our social media in the coming days.”
The event’s cancellation was also announced on the Canada Rock Fest website, which said that refund information would be listed on the website soon.
Canada Rock Fest was held on Varabioff’s eight-acre 68th Avenue property, some distance behind Grand Forks’ Silver Kettle Village. It drew audiences of up to 5,000 over the three-day event, one of Grand Forks’ biggest.
It was first held in Grand Forks in 2015, in James Donaldson Park. The pandemic forced the festival’s cancellation in 2020 and 2021.
The line-up for the 2022 festival featured Our Lady Peace, Big Wreck, 54-40, Bachman/Cummings, Darby Mills, Theory of a Deadman, Starship, Black Stone Cherry, and others.
