Formula E: Vancouver Formula E event cancelled (Update)

Vancouver’s first Formula E Race proposed for False Creek this summer has been called off.

One Stop Strategy (OSS) Group, the Montreal-based promoters organizing the Canadian E-Fest, said Friday the three-day festival has been “postponed until 2023.”

“It was a decision made between the organizers and the City of Vancouver,” according to the OSS Group. “The timeline and parameters for the event were not achievable.”

As of Friday afternoon, the event did not have a permit from the city.

In a statement, the City of Vancouver confirmed OSS Group had “elected to exercise its rights under the Host City Agreement to postpone the Formula E Event … to a future date.”

“The City and OSS Group will continue to work together and hope to announce a new date in the near future.”

The Canada Day long weekend festival was to include a live Nickelback concert, a business conference focused on climate change solutions, celebrity events and a headline Formula E electric car race.

Vancouver’s first Formula E event, organizers say early ticket sales have been brisk, but much work remains ahead of what they call a first-of-its-kind event for the world of electric car racing.

On Canada Day long weekend this year Vancouver is set to host the electric car event, called Canadian E-Fest, joining other destinations including Berlin, Rome, Monaco and New York in the Formula E Championship calendar.

“I just got off a call with Formula E earlier this morning, and they can’t believe we have this many tickets sold with still three months to go” said Anne Roy, a co-founder and partner of One Stop Strategy Group, or OSS, the company promoting and organizing E-Fest. “All their other races, the tickets get sold at the last minute.”

Reached Wednesday in Montreal, 101 days before race day, Roy said more than 30,000 tickets have been sold. Suites were “almost sold out,” she said, “so we might have to build extra hospitality suites.”

Vancouver’s E-Fest will stand out from other Formula E races, with its focus on creating an entire “festival weekend,” Roy said. In addition to the race, on Saturday, July 2, E-Fest will also include a sustainability business conference, an e-sports tournament, and live music, with rockers Nickelback announced last month.