Dear members of our community,

As we have already announced in our earlier statements, we and our volunteers at Victoria Iranian-Persian Cultural Society have been busy planning for our 2020 Persian New Year events.

In past several weeks, our Events Committee and a team of more than 10 volunteers have been working really hard to plan for our upcoming events. They signed contracts with the venues and venders for the evens; our performers have been working to prepare their best performances for you; our Communications Committee members designed our promotion materials and advertise for our events; and you showed interest in our events and purchased more than 40% of our tickets three weeks before our events. Everything seemed to be prepared for a few amazing and memorable events!

Despite all these efforts and the fact that more than 40% of our tickets are already sold, it appears that our events cannot happen. COVID-19 virus is spreading fast across the globe, and there are several cases of patients with that virus are already confirmed in British Columbia.  At this point there is direct guideline for cancelation of large public or private gatherings; however, due to the severity of the situation and the risk of an epidemy here in Victoria,  VIPCS Board of Directors had an extraordinary meeting on March 3^rd, and after a lengthy discussion considering all aspects of the issue, decided to cancel all our upcoming Persian New Year events. This decision was made in order to preserve the safety of our members and that of the broader community in Victoria, and in BC.

In order to return your tickets please do the folowing steps:

• If you purchased our online tickets online, please except a full refund for the cost of the tickets you purchased.
• If you purchased your tickets in person from Anar Foods, please contact us at info@vicipcs.ca and provide us a photo of the actual tickets and valid email address (for e-transfer) so we can refund the fees you paid.

This decision will cost the Society around $800, but we are confident that this is the right decision and your safety and that of our community must be prioritized.

To learn more about the latest updates about COVID-19 please visit the following links:

Health Canada:

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html

Island Health (VIHA):

https://www.islandhealth.ca/learn-about-health/diseases-conditions/novel-coronavirus-information

Warmest regards,

Victoria Iranian-Persian Cultural Society