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WELCOME TO SKYLIGHT FESTIVAL

Nurturing a narrative of hope, joy, and transformation.

The vision of Skylight began in 2015. The festival continued yearly in Paris Ontario, first at the Paris Fairgrounds, and then moved to Five Oaks Retreat Centre in 2018.  In 2020, the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In 2021, there was a smaller festival, with a smaller attendance.  Now, in 2022, the Skylight Management Team has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2022 festival and host no further festivals.  The festival planned for July 15-17, 2022 has been cancelled.

The Skylight Festival began with a lot of hope and excitement.  In the fall of 2021, that hope and excitement was still very present, with new ideas, a great line-up of contributors, and a larger planning team to help plan the event.  Unfortunately, insufficient funding and low registration forced the Management Team to acknowledge the festival isn’t viable this year.  The team also decided that it was time for us to let Skylight go, that we did not have the capacity to continue, with hope that someday and somewhere, others might pick up the torch, with new inspiration for a faith-full and justice-filled festival.

Thanks to the many people who have supported this festival, from planning teams to contributors, site hosts to sponsors, volunteers to participants.  We know that many people have been touched by this work and many will be sad to see it end.  We lament its ending and celebrate the communities that have gathered to hear music, share ideas, be inspired and even transformed.  We are grateful for the laughter, the tears, the words of passion, and the connections with new and old friends.

As we close operations, we are reaching out to those who registered for this festival, to contributors who planned to be with us, and to sponsors who contributed financially or planned to participate.  Our final gathering and final expense will be a small gathering at Five Oaks of those who have been a part of creating Skylight, in order to say goodbye and celebrate Skylight together.  After that, we will let any remaining funds sit in an account at Five Oaks for six months, giving space for others to continue the work of Skylight.  At the end of this time, if no one has come forward, we will donate any remaining funds.  We will reach out to everyone who registered, made donations, or sponsored the festival in a separate communication. 

We are grateful for your support over the years, as we regretfully see the Festival come to an end.