A setback for a popular annual event this year for the Village of Lytton – but one which rides on the back of some positive news for the burned-out community.

The annual Lytton River Festival, which had been scheduled for this weekend, has been forced into a postponement.

Festival Secretary Nonie McCann says the reason is – ironically – a lack of water, due to some work being done by the Lytton First Nation.

“They said, ‘while, actually what we’re doing is we’re turning the water off in order to connect water to temporary buildings that we have in place for people that have been displaced over a year now’,” said McCann.

The Lytton First Nation is in the process of linking up 39 modular homes to utilities so people can finally return to the area after being burned out from last year’s devastating fire which destroyed the Village and many homes on Lytton Nation territory.

Because the Village of Lytton was virtually destroyed last year, the normal site for the event – in the downtown of the Village – wasn’t usable this year.

This year, they had planned to hold the Festival at the Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux School on the Lytton First Nation.

“We had planned to just have kind of a small, close event, [with] local people, because we’re still not able to really host large crowds of people in Lytton. There is very little accommodation.  And of course, there’s no food. There’s no restaurants or anything like that.”

As for the Lytton River Festival this year, McCann says they do hope to put it on sometime in either September or October.

“We’re looking at, already, what possible dates we might be do.  Checking in with the LFN (Lytton First Nation) about what might work for them.  And just making sure we don’t have any other plans that we’re not really aware of later on in September, while the weather is still good.”