African Roots Festival posters left in shreds in apparent act of vandalism

The organizers of the St. John's African Roots Festival were shocked to find that all the promotional posters they had distributed for the event had been ripped and torn from the everywhere they had been posted.

"I was shocked," says Navel Sarr, president and founder of the festival.

The annual festival is a free event that celebrates African music. This year, the festival will have its sixth performance, butSarr says it's the first timehe has seen this scale of vandalism targeted at the organization.

It took an hour for volunteers to tape 40 posters arounddowntown St. John's last week.Sarr said all the posters were torn or destroyed while surrounding posters for other events were untouched.

Sarr said he isn't sure if racism played a part in the vandalism. He didn't file any complaints with the police and isn't planning to, even if the culprit is identified.

However, Sarrdid share a video of the posters on the festival's social media platforms, showing what the posters looked like when they weretaped to the polesas well as how they looked after they had been torn toshreds.

He said he got supportive reactions from the communityand more people sayingthey will come to the festival to show their support.

"Unfortunately, someone doesn't want these kinds of events in the city, but they can't stop us," Sarr said. "This kind of event brings people together."

The St. John's African Roots Festival is planned to happen next weekend.

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