The two biggest festivals at Queen’s Park north — 23-year-old Afrofest and the five-year-old Freedom Festival — face cancellation if organizers can’t quickly convince the city to issue event permits.

Parks officials insist there is no rule change or clampdown — just two festivals that have outgrown the space, routinely break permit conditions and are collectively taking a big toll on the park’s grass and trees.

Michael Stohr, president of Afrofest, which started with 2,000 people celebrating live African music and culture, said he was expecting up to 50,000 revellers in the park, just north of the Legislature, on July 9 and 10.

“We’re beyond the point of no return. With funding, contracts, (band) bookings, we’re way beyond the point of committing and then turning back without considerable financial losses. . . . But I don’t accept the fight is over. We at least need a fair hearing — we’ve been denied an appeal process.”

Gabe Simms, a co-founder of the Toronto Freedom Festival that sees up to 30,000 people gather after the Global Marijuana March, is also hoping to change the minds of parks officials.

“We certainly believe we’ll have an event this year, there’s no quit in us,” Simms said, noting the clock is ticking down to the May 7 march.

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, whose ward encompasses the park, is bringing together the organizers and city staff Thursday in a bid to find alternative locations.

“At this point I don’t think either event is going back to Queen’s Park north because of the toll it’s taking on the ground and the trees, but I’m committed to trying to do what I can to find an alternative spot so these festivals can go ahead,” she said.

City staff have suggested Exhibition Place, Toronto Island, Downsview Park and Centennial Park.

Wong-Tam (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale) said she wants the events downtown and is looking at bigger parks, while noting nearby residents would have to “buy in.”

Richard Ubbens, Toronto’s director of parks, is adamant that Queen’s Park north needs a rest. The turf has grown hard and thin, and the compaction is hurting the roots of the centuries-old oak trees, he said.

“Queen’s Park north used to be a really beautiful park and right now it’s pretty rundown.”

Organizers of both events were notified in January that staff had identified multiple permit infractions in 2010 and were subsequently denied permits.

In a March 11 letter to Afrofest, parks manager Mark Hawkins listed six infractions, including too many vehicles in the park, large vehicles on the grass and an unauthorized amusement park.

Stohr counters that vehicles were on the park only during set-up and takedown, and some accusations, such as music going past 11 p.m., are simply untrue.

Moving to Exhibition Place would cost more and there are logistical problems with moving people to the island, he said, adding: “We are Afrofest at Queen’s Park, in the heart of the city. We say: ‘Discover Africa in the heart of Toronto.’ ”

Simms said city staff cited open alcohol, underage drinking and marijuana use as Freedom Festival infractions.

“If it really is about us growing too big we’ll work to find a solution,” he said, noting the “peaceful, positive” gathering has seen exponential growth. “We’re on the cusp of something huge.”