A 40-year tradition won’t make it to 50, as organizers have cancelled the bikini contest at this year’s CHIN annual picnic.

“As our 50th anniversary, we really wanted to focus on the things that CHIN radio does,” said CHIN president Lenny Lombardi. “We celebrate our culture and diversity. We celebrate our heritage. And we wanted to refocus on the international talent and musical entertainers that we support throughout the year.”

CHIN AM 1540 is the first multicultural/multilingual radio station to be established in Ontario. CHIN AM started broadcasting on June 6, 1966, followed a year later by CHIN FM 100.7 in 1967.

The CHIN Picnic, has taken place every summer since 1966. The bikini contest began as a separate event at Captain John’s Harbour Boat Restaurant in 1976 and 1977 before becoming part of the picnic in 1978.

Winners of the 2011 CHIN bikini contest. PHOTO: CityNews

This year’s picnic, advertised as the “largest free multicultural picnic in the world” will be held on June 17 to 19 in conjunction with the Taste of Little Italy festival on College Street.

But the annual bikini contest wasn’t just about scantily-clad women. The picnic added an annual Mr. CHIN bikini contest for men in response to allegations of sexism – and that competition will be cancelled, too.

“We’ll continue to look for new and exciting ways how to promote the picnic, but our focus this year is really on international entertainment,” Lombardi said.