March 15, 2026
Weeks after the Minister of Culture and Communication, Mr. Patrick Delatour, announced that the national carnival would be held in Fort Liberte (northeast of the country) to the tune of nearly 2.3 million US dollars, the government announced on February 18, 2025 that the national carnival would be cancelled.
The decision to cancel the national carnival comes after several in the private sector publicly criticized the government for spending such an amount at a time where gang violence continue to surge and the number of death also continue to rise as a direct result of gun violence. Recently the country’s largest public hospital was burned down by gangs. Gangs also invaded the commune of Kenscoff causing more displaced people and leaving two members of the armed forces dead with several others injured. Amongst those who criticized the government’s carnival organization was the Haitian-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
In a press release dated on February 18 the government states: “municipal authorities and local civil society organisations, however, remain free, according to their respective assessments, to organise their own festivities to highlight the wealth and cultural specificities of their areas.”
The national carnival was scheduled for three days from March 2-4.
