SaskatoonAbout 1,000 attendees attended Sean Feucht’s event in Diefenbaker Park on Thursday night. Roughly 100 protesters gathered outside of the event, brandishing signs and playing music to try and disrupt the performance.Several other Canadian cities revoked permits for American musician to performAbout 1,000 people attended the Sean Feucht concert in Diefenbaker Park on Thursday. (Jeremy Warren/CBC)Controversial musician Sean Feucht performed as planned on Thursday night in Saskatoon’s Diefenbaker Park, capping off a weeks-long saga of controversy and protests over the singer’s MAGA-aligned views. Feucht is a religious singer from the U.S. who has expressed anti-diversity, anti-2SLGBTQ+ and anti-women’s rights views on his platforms.About 1,000 people attended the event, which was billed as a free worship concert. Outside the venue were roughly 100 protesters, who held signs decrying Feucht’s presence in the city.The protesters, who were separated from the attendees by a fence, played music and used whistles to try to drown out Feucht’s performance.Feucht’s Revive ’25 tour, which was cancelled in some other Canadian cities, was allowed to go ahead after the City of Saskatoon declined to revoke his permit in spite of some community protest.About 100 protesters gathered outside of the Sean Feucht concert in Diefenbaker Park on Thursday. (Jeremy Warren/CBC)Fran Forsberg joined the protesters outside the event.”I’m so disappointed in the city council. They’re allowing this hateful rhetoric,” she said. “He’s demonizing people.”When asked why she came, she said it was to support the city’s youth.”To make our presence known and to let youth know that there are people who care about them and that they have a right to be who they are,” she said.OutSaskatoon issued a statement in a social media post. The group said it’s “frustrated and disappointed” the concert is going ahead because “allowing [Feucht] to perform in Saskatoon goes against the proclamation of Saskatoon as a safe city for 2SLGBTQ+.”WATCH | Protesters demanded cancellation of MAGA-affiliated musician’s concert in Saskatoon: Protesters demand cancellation of MAGA-affiliated musician’s concert in SaskatoonAround 100 people stood outside Saskatoon city hall Friday holding signs calling for the city to revoke controversial American musician Sean Feucht’s permit to perform at Diefenbaker Park on Aug. 21.Dwight Newman, a constitutional law professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said that nothing Feucht has said has breached Canada’s hate speech laws, and that authorities also had a duty to consider the constitutional rights of people who wanted to attend the concert.Terry Severson was one of those attendees. He’s a local pastor who credited religion with helping him overcome alcoholism. Severson said he respected the protesters’ right to express themselves.”I’m so happy that the mayor allowed us to do this,” said Severson.”We’re just here to worship God, we’re not here for any political statements or anything like that,” he said. “We’re not against anybody. We’re not anti-anybody.”Groups opposed to the event said it was a threat to public safety, though Saskatoon police said they did not find any security issues during a risk assessment of the event. On Thursday, police posted on social media to clarify their role in maintaining safety at the event and explain what people are allowed to do if protesting.”Our role is to police behaviour, not beliefs; acts of unlawful behaviour will not be tolerated and criminal wrongdoing will be responded to appropriately,” police said in the post.There’s no indication from police that there were any arrests or charges laid in connection to the event and protest.ABOUT THE AUTHORChris Edwards is a reporter at CBC Saskatchewan. Before entering journalism, he worked in the tech industry.
Sean Feucht concert proceeds as planned in Saskatoon, with protesters attending too
