The Canadian children’s entertainer announced May 31 he was dropping out of the Vancouver International Children’s Festival because it’s become too commercial.

“Arts for young audiences and corporate ads don’t mix,” Raffi said.

Raffi apparently took offense at the sight of a dozen automobiles in a Kia Motors display on the on the event grounds just before the festival was to open. Kia is a Korean automaker and the festival’s largest sponsor.

“I recognize that corporate sponsorship has become an important source of funding for the Festival,” Raffi said through his label, Troubadour Records.

“However, the overt commercialization that is evident in the dozen automobiles currently being displayed on the festival grounds is a step that I cannot in good conscience support.”

Raffi noted he had participated in the Children’s Festival every year since its inception in 1979.

Festival Chairman Jean Riou said he was sorry Raffi had chosen to end his long association with the event, adding, “the festival regrets that Raffi has chosen this means to express his views on corporate sponsorship.”‘

The festival, which attracts upward of 70,000 people annually, features free and paid concerts for toddlers to early teens, as well as puppeteers, jugglers, storytellers and roving minstrels.