Manitoba Museum cancels Yuri’s Night in light of ongoing war

The Manitoba Museum is cancelling this year’s Yuri’s Night presentation owing to concerns about the event’s thematic association with Russia in light of the country’s war with Ukraine.

Held every April 12, the international celebration promotes space exploration by recognizing humanity’s first space flight on the same date in 1961. It’s named after Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet pilot who journeyed alone into outer space in a Vostok space capsule and completed one orbit of the Earth in under two hours.

Manitoba Museum’s event, held at the Planetarium, was to feature a dance party, a pop-up bar, contests and science activities.

The museum explained their decision to cancel the event, and refund ticket holders, on social media.

“After listening closely to the extensive feedback shared with us … we have decided to cancel the event,” it wrote. “We are truly sorry for any hurt or discomfort that seeing the Yuri’s Night event advertised may have caused.”

In the comment section, they clarified that their decision reflected concerns “related to the name of the event and its association with the Soviet Union and Russia.”

Online responses to the cancellation were mixed. Some commended the museum for their sensitivity to the effects of the Russo-Ukrainian war on Winnipeg’s Ukrainian community, while others were more critical.

Vostok 1 is a key moment in the Space Race, a Cold War-era competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for superior spaceflight capability with its origins in the nuclear arms race.

Some commenters insisted on the apolitical spirit of Yuri’s Night, with one writing: “Yuri’s Night commemorates a monumental milestone for humanity … space exploration has traditionally been a realm where we look past terrestrial borders.”

The Manitoba Museum said they intend to host the event with a new name and focus in the future, “framing it as a celebration of space exploration as a whole.”

conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca