The Roncesvalles Polish Festival is still the Roncesvalles Polish Festival.
In June, the Roncesvalles Village BIA changed the street festival’s name to the Roncesvalles Festival.
There was much outcry at the move and a petition was started to keep the original name.
“This morning the Roncesvalles Village BIA voted to reverse their decision to take Polish out of the name of the Roncesvalles Polish Festival. Every one of your comments and petition signatures played an important part in making this decision happen,” Mike Ostrowski, who started the petition wrote on social media Thursday.
“Though this is a good first step in repairing the hurt and anger the BIA name change attempt had caused, it is up to us to make a statement that Polish culture and heritage is not an inconvenience but the source of celebration that draws people to the neighbourhood.”
The Roncesvalles Village BIA had decided to change the name of the festival in order to combine two area street festivals — Roncy Rocks (for local artists and musicians that normally takes place in June) and the Roncesvalles Polish Festival (which happens Sept. 17-18 this year).
The BIA said it couldn’t afford to fund both festivals after COVID-19.
Roncesvalles Village BIA board chair David Neinstein had previously said the organization was listening to community concerns.
The BIA couldn’t be reached for comment after Thursday’s vote.
Mayor John Tory took to social media regarding the issue on Thursday.
“Thank you to @RoncesVillage for restoring the name of the Roncesvalles Polish Festival. This was the right thing to do. Looking forward to celebrating Roncesvalles and our city’s Polish community in September,” Tory wrote.
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