(WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com) — The Troika Russian Festival in Erie has been canceled.

The annual festival is organized by the Russian Orthodox Church of the Nativity. The event had been scheduled for May 27-29.

The church has cancelled its festival as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Daria Devlin, chairwoman of the event, says after some conversation, the congregation made the difficult decision to cancel the festival. She said this was not the time to celebrate given what is occurring in Eastern Europe.

Organizers said it’s too soon to make a decision about their plans for next year’s festival.

“We have to recognize that there’s a huge amount of suffering happening in that part of the world. We’ll have to watch that and keep an eye on what 2023 brings and how does the world feel about Russian culture. This is an event to celebrate our church, so we’ll find a way to do that one way or another,” said Daria Devlin, Chairwoman of Erie’s Troika Festival.