The Roncesvalles Village BIA board will meet next Thursday to discuss what turned out to be a controversial decision to change the Roncesvalles Polish Festival to just Roncesvalles Festival after more than 15 years as the former.
“A couple weeks ago we started hearing from people who caught wind that we changed the name and starting to say, ‘Why are you cancelling the Polish Festival?’’ said Roncesvalles Village BIA board chair David Neinstein.
“We were a little shocked because at no point were we cancelling the Polish Festival. We’re taking (the feedback) very seriously. We’re listening to everyone’s opinions and we have a board meeting next week and we’re going to discuss the option then and see whether we think it’s the best idea to change the name back and if it’s even possible. And so we’ll deal with the consequences. We’re open-minded. It’s righteous concern. Everyone wants to protect their heritage and we didn’t mean to diminish it at all.”
Neinstein explains the change came about after the BIA proposed in August 2021 to combine the two street festivals in the area — Roncy Rocks (for local artist and musicians that normally takes place in June) and the Roncesvalles Polish Festival (which happens Sept. 17-18 this year) — because they couldn’t afford to fund both post-COVID.
“We presented it to the 270 (BIA) members in October of 2021, we said, ‘Hey we’ve got this great idea to combine the festivals.’ And we really thought we had a win-win and the motion passed unanimously,” Neinstein said.
Among the high-profile detractors of the name change is Etobicoke-Centre MPP Kinga Surma and former Toronto City Councillor Justin Di Ciano (2014-2018).
Surma, who personally expressed her concerns to Neinstein, said she’s heard about backlash to the name change from many of her Polish constituents and about 3,200 people (as of Friday afternoon) have signed a petition to put the word ‘Polish’ back in the festival’s title.
“I think they’re (very) disappointed,” said Surma. “Many people in the Polish community didn’t know that this decision was made. They felt that a certain level of consultation should have occurred and did not.”
Added Di Ciano, who used to run Toronto Ribfest: “It’s very upsetting. It’s a place where the Polish people take pride in going once a year. It’s such a sad decision. “
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