N.L. Folk Arts Society temporarily cuts staff despite festival success

The Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society says rising costs have placed the organization in a financial bind, forcing executives Friday to announce the temporary layoffs of five staffers.

The society's president, Deborah Coombs, sent out a letter on Jan. 17 notifying the community of its decision to reduce staffing. 

"We came to this place where it's just not ethical to ask staff to work for free or to continue to think, oh, well, we can just keep going as if it's nothing really wrong," said executive director Diana Daly.

While the society still has its dedicated sponsors, Daly said other typical funding sources don't come until the spring, resulting in the current cash crunch. 

Outside of the annual Folk Festival, the society's flagship event that takes place in Bannerman Park in St. John's every summer, the society holds other events and engages community development, which requires year-round staff. Daly says she hopes to be able to rehire staff later this year. 

"When I say temporary layoff, it is. So that we can just get our funding sources sorted so that when they're ready to be released, we're ready to go," said Daly. "I'm bringing staff back because they're fantastic. I can't do it without them."

While Folk Nights at The Ship will still go ahead, and festival planning will continue, Daly said the team will have to pause other programming and events.

Daly says she's doing everything possible to restore finances and rehire essential staff. 

"We're strapped, and I know we're not alone. And that's cold comfort," she said. "It's a sign of the times. And we're going to sort it out."

Hopeful for continued success

The Folk Festival returned to being an in-person event at Bannerman Park in July 2020, after setbacks from the pandemic. And in 2023, the festival lost $175,000, leading them to consider making changes to its alcohol consumption rules to generate more revenue. 

Last summer, the festival found success with new rules and Emmylou Harris's sold-out show. The new rules allowed people to drink alcohol anywhere in the festival except for a sober area, which generated $75,000 in drink sales. 

Now as the society is coming up on its 50th anniversary, Daly is optimistic that this year's festival will still be as good as last year's, including by keeping free daytime programming. 

She also will apply for a Newfoundland Liquor Corporation liquor license again and is planning on adding a second station to sell alcohol to avoid long lineups. 

"Our capacity is 4,000 people. So we're anticipating more people to come out and hopefully, people trust us to know that it's a clean, safe, reasonable, fun event and that everybody's welcome," she said. 

Daly said traditions and folk arts are important in Newfoundland and Labrador, so it's important that funding continues. 

"We are a not-for-profit society. So this is not driven by profit and revenues. This is driven by a love of our culture and our respect of who we are as people and what we do."

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