Lennox Island St. Anne's Sunday events cancelled over COVID-19

A celebration of Mi'kmaq culture and traditions that has been held on the Lennox Island First Nation along P.E.I.'s North Shore for more than 100 years will not be going ahead this year.

COVID-19 has forced the cancellation of St. Anne's Sunday, a festival celebrating the patron saint of the Mi'kmaq people.

Usually held in late July, it traditionally includes a mass at St. Anne's Church, a lobster feast, a parade and other community events.

Lennox Island Chief Darlene Bernard says they had hoped to still be able to present a smaller celebration for band members only.

"We were planning to have a community celebration that would be a closed family event," she told CBC News.

"We would only invite our off-reserve band members to come into the community and we had developed, I thought, a comprehensive plan."

Uncertainty puts end to plans

But the most recent cluster of COVID-19 diagnoses on Prince Edward Island changed all that.

The province now has nineactive cases, according to the last update from Dr. Heather Morrison.

"With the cases in the province right now and the fact that things can happen so quickly and the uncertainty of it all, we decided it was better to be safe," said Bernard.

She added that she is confident that St. Anne's Sunday will be back next summer, bigger and better than ever.

More from CBC P.E.I.