Regina Gospel presentation cancelled as venue reserves all parking for Roughriders tailgating

REGINA — The second night of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada’s “Look Up Celebration” in Regina was cancelled, as the venue reserved all parking so Roughrider fans could tailgate.BGEA Canada Executive Director Fred Weiss said his organization was informed on May 11 that event parking on June 13 was suddenly no longer an option.“We ultimately had to, in light of those limitations, make a difficult decision to forego the second night," Weiss said in an interview.“We knew that just was not going to be workable in terms of a good experience for people who would come,” Weiss said. “It’s not a ticketed event, it’s open to the general public, and so without parking that would be problematic.”The defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders open their season at 5 pm at Mosaic Stadium against the British Columbia Lions. Thanks to recent legislation by the Saskatchewan Party government, this is the first game tailgating is available. The stadium shares a parking lot with the Brandt Centre where Look Up is hosted.“They advised that it had to do with the conflict with the tailgating event,” Weiss said. “We understood that parking was certainly needed for the Riders’ event. We weren’t obviously looking for all the parking. We just wanted… sufficient parking for our event.".The June 12-13 dates were set late in the fall of 2025, prior to the establishment of the CFL schedule on December 9, 2025. BGEA had initially anticipated that moved their scheduled Saturday event to early afternoon to accommodate football.“People would be already moved on by the time that, at least in our thinking, by the time the majority of people would come to the game. I understand that the tailgate event certainly affected that, their timeline as well.”The Western Standard reached out to the Brandt Centre and Saskatchewan Roughriders for comment, but did not receive any. The Brandt Centre is not charging BGEA for the cancelled event Saturday. A legal case for breach of contract is unclear.“There’s a provision where they commit to making an effort to make parking available to anybody who’s using their facilities,” Weiss said. “I think it’s on a best effort basis, or reasonable effort basis.”Weiss said they had some "candid" discussions with the venue, but would not say whether BGEA might sue.“I don’t want to get into that kind of conversation with you,” he replied. “Our desire is to… settle it well, and also to be a Christian example in terms of how we deal with this in the community.”.Friday night's free event at the Brandt Centre will continue as planned. Doors open at 6 and the program starts at 7. Award-winning musical artists performing include High Valley, Rend Collective, Brooke Nicholls, and The Afters. Will Graham will share the evangelistic message of hope and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.More than three million people made first-time professions of faith in Christ under the evangelistic ministry of Will Graham's grandfather, Billy Graham, who died in 2018. Will's father Franklin leads Samaritan's Purse, a charity that provided 244 million shoeboxes of Christmas gifts to needy children worldwide.A Franklin Graham event was cancelled in Liverpool, UK in 2020 over Graham's opposition to gay marriage. Regina's Pride Parade will be held Saturday June 13.Weiss, who lives in Calgary where BGEA Canada is headquartered, said preparation for the Look Up event also included Regina city-wide monthly prayer meetings, attended by as many as 500 people at a time. A BGEA "Kid Fest" in May attracted more than 1,000 people to the Brandt Centre.BGEA has also been helping train churches in evangelism, especially teens and young adults. The organization hopes people will share their faith and how it has changed their life long after Will Graham leaves.“It’s not just about bringing it to a close in June, but that it continues on, and that’s what we’re excited about," Weiss said.

Regina Gospel presentation cancelled as venue reserves all parking for Roughriders tailgating

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