Today, Spruce Meadows has announced the very difficult decision to cancel this year's Masters' tournament that was due to run from September 9-13.
Their statement reads: "This decision is made with heavy hearts and an acute awareness of the significant ripple effects. Our flagship Masters’ Tournament was scheduled to be a 'best ever' edition in 2020. Highlights were to include the world’s best horses and riders competing at the biggest tournament in show jumping, wonderful shopping, exhibits and entertainment programs. These included the RCMP Musical Ride, Fire Fit, the World Blacksmith Championships, Friday’s ‘Evening of the Horse’, military colour and the wonderful voices of the Tenors, just to touch the surface.
"Spruce Meadows, by way of its insights into recent third party economic impact studies, fully understands that by canceling its five Spruce Meadows show jumping tournaments, there is a wide spread economic impact. This is particularly true as it relates to the 560 full time jobs, the $45 million in wages and the nearly $90 million in tourism related economic activity that are attributed to the Spruce Meadows International Show Jumping season. We will dearly miss engaging with the nearly 500,000 fans-mostly Albertans- that make Spruce Meadows part of their summer and fall each year.
"During these times of enormous health and economic challenges caused by the pandemic, we all strive to remain positive, engaged and be productive members of our community. Spruce Meadows has always been a place of inclusion, caring and safety. In these times of global uncertainty, the health and well-being of our sponsors and their employees (many of whom have been with us for our entire history), our competitors, officials, volunteers, fans, the media, Spruce Meadows’ staff and the community at large continues to be our top priority.
It is a beautiful day here at Spruce Meadows. It is comforting that it will be again tomorrow, the day after, and whenever we can all return."
