'It's not going to happen': Carifiesta cancelled following application issues

After some back and forth with the city, the organizers of Carifiesta, an annual celebration of Caribbean culture in Montreal, say the event will not take place this year.

Organizers of the long-running festival met with city officials on Wednesday after they were denied $30,000 in funding, but to no avail.

"I don't know what to say. The end result was, the application still wouldn't be processed. It's not going to happen," organizer Everiste Blaize told CTV News.

Last week, the city said the Carifiesta application failed to meet certain requirements.

Montreal overhauled its support programs for festival funding last year.

A spokesperson for the city said Carifiesta was informed of the changes and was offered assistance in submitting project for 2023 funding.

"The promoter did not respond to the City's offer of support," Camille Bégin wrote in an email to CTV News last week, adding that its proposal this year's festival was "not viable."

But Blaize said the issue could have been avoided with more communication from city officials, claiming he didn't hear anything from them between Jan. 10 -- when the application was sent -- to May 3, when he received a letter saying the parade was denied its permit.

He said the situation should not reflect poor planning on behalf of Carifiesta staff.

"That's a big misconception within the community that's out there, and it sounds like we're not being governed properly," Blaize said.

Carifiesta first started in Montreal in 1974.