‘It doesn’t belong here’: Data centre opponents push boycott of Saint John festival
Opponents of a proposed data centre are urging residents to boycott part of a Saint John summer festival.
Advocacy group Resist Data Centre NB is encouraging people to avoid Canadian rapper k-os’ performance at the Moonlight Bazaar’s Energy Stage, sponsored by Texas-based company VoltaGrid.
Group member Sarah Nelson clarified that the group is not discouraging residents from supporting the local vendors taking part in the event, but the satellite bars and any other activity that will generate profit for Moonlight.
“We support local [business]; obviously, we are locals,” she said. “We don’t support an American company that wants to prey on the small community of Lorneville. That’s our main focus.”
Last year, VoltaGrid and Calgary-based company Beacon AI proposed a hyperscale data centre at the Spruce Lake Industrial Park, following Saint John council’s decision to rezone a 120-hectare piece of land as part of the park’s expansion.
The $2 billion project has incited significant public criticism due to concerns over its potential environmental effects, noise pollution, loss of old-growth forest, and its significant energy requirements, which might further strain the province’s grid and increase energy rates for residents.
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Nelson said the group believes the festival shouldn’t be making money off the community, “if it doesn’t stand up for the community.”
She said they are urging residents to support local businesses and vendors year-round instead of just one night.
“Whether people decide to go to Moonlight or not, is kind of a personal choice,” Nelson added. “But we just want to make clear that anybody that aligns with our views and is opposing the data centres should not attend Moonlight Baazar.”
With this campaign, Nelson said the group also wants to show the province that New Brunswick and Saint John are not for sale.
“The message that we want to send is that this [development] will be a parasite that does not benefit the local community in any way,” she added. “It’s not a necessary evil of industrial or technological advancement. It doesn’t belong here.”
Another activist group, Save Lorneville, also issued a statement regarding VoltaGrid’s involvement in the festival.
“VoltaGrid was a deeply unfortunate choice of sponsor by the Moonlight Bazaar organizers,” said the organization in the statement. “That decision has cast a shadow over an otherwise popular annual event and distracted from the fun, local businesses and community spirit that the Moonlight Bazaar is meant to celebrate.”
While the group also encouraged people to skip k-os’ performance, it urged residents to act peacefully and respectfully and not interfere with the safety or enjoyment of others.
Acadia Broadcasting requested an interview with the organizers of Moonlight, but the organization declined and instead provided a statement.
In the statement, the organizers said they were “deeply saddened” to hear that some members of the community were planning to boycott this year’s event.
“We are grateful to the local vendors who bring the event to life, and the many community partners and sponsors who make the event free every year,” wrote the organizers. “We would not be here today without the generous support we’ve received from these businesses, and we fully believe that the 2026 event will be everything we promised.”
In an email statement VoltaGrid president and CEO Nathan Ough said boycotting Moonlight Bazaar hurts Saint John’s local businesses more than it hurts his company.
“I struggle to understand the rationale behind harming local businesses because of disagreements over a single project,” he wrote.
Ough believes Saint John needs economic development to create long-term opportunities for all residents, and grow the city’s tax base, create jobs and strengthen its local economy.
He said the proposed data centre presents the opportunity to put Saint John in the map as a destination for responsible economic development “that balances social, environmental, and economic development.”
Ough added that VoltaGrid wants to invest in the community through grants, sponsorships, local initiatives, and direct employment opportunities.
According to him, the company has already received more than 300 job applications from Saint John residents, along with interest from more than 25 local businesses that want to supply products and services to the project.
“I’m doing everything I can to help move Saint John forward so that we can build a stronger long-term economic future for our community,” he said. “My hope is simply that we can have a balanced, constructive conversation about how to make this project a benefit for everyone, rather than approaching it from positions of absolute agreement or disagreement.”
Moonlight Bazaar is an annual outdoor festival that brings together music, food, art, and creative performances beneath a giant, inflated moon.
The event will take place on July 18 in Uptown Saint John, at the intersection of Grannan Lane and Canterbury Street, from 4 p.m. to midnight.
