Organizers of Toronto Oktoberfest say they’re cancelling their event for 2025 due to “current funding restraints.”
The notice was posted on the event’s website, and organizers said the event – which began in 2012 as a nod to the famous festival in Munich, Germany – will be back next year.
“Due to current funding restraints, we have made the difficult decision to pause Toronto Oktoberfest for 2025 while we focus on building an even better festival experience for the future,” they wrote.
“Mark your calendars—we will definitely be back in 2026!”
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They did not elaborate on what the funding restraints were.
Last year’s Oktoberfest unfolded over two days in late September at the Downsview Airport Lands.
Oktoberfest isn’t the only festival to experience trouble recently; the Taste of the Danforth was cancelled for a second year in a row this month.
Over the past few years, several festival organizers have cited the rising costs of insurance and security, for example, as barriers to hosting events. Last fall, organizers of the Toronto Santa Claus parade said the 121-year-old tradition may not happen this year unless they raised $250,000 to cover rising costs.
In May, the City of Toronto launched the Special Events Stabilization Initiative – a one-time funding program providing financial relief to special event organizers hit by rising costs, especially those related to health, safety and security of the public and event attendees.
In April, the city unveiled a $2.5 million investment into 64 festivals as part of the 2025 Cultural Festivals Funding Program, a 33 per cent increase in program funding compared to the year prior with 15 more festivals included.
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