Over $138,000 for Local Festivals & Events
August 4, 2021Nipissing – Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing is pleased to announce that the Ontario government is providing three local festivals/events with $138,377 of support through the Reconnect Festival and Event Program. Funding will support festival and event organizers to deliver innovative experiences that allow people to safely reconnect with their communities.
“Festivals and events make important contributions to communities like ours, creating local jobs and boosting the local economy,” said Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing. “It’s important for the government to make this investment through the Reconnect Festival and Event Program, giving us all the opportunity to experience what Ontario has to offer right in our own backyard.”
Local festival and event funding includes:
- $93,000 for the Smoke’N’Spurs Festival
- $24,377 for the Capitol Centre’s Bluesfest
- $21,000 for Les Compagnons 2022 Carnaval
The government is providing $43 million to support 439 festivals and events through the Reconnect Festival and Event Program, representing a record number of supported events in the program’s 14-year history.
This one-time funding increase for festivals and events – more than double the annual funding provided to the sector in the past – will ensure the long-term success of the festival and event sector while helping municipalities and organizations deliver innovative and safe experiences, whether virtually or in-person, that allow people to safely reconnect with their communities.
The Reconnect Festival and Event Program was developed to help festival and event organizers adapt to new public health measures with virtual, drive-through and other safe offerings. The program directs support to events with innovative and safe experiences, while creating opportunities that encourage Ontarians to reconnect with the beauty and diversity of their communities in new ways.
The Celebrate Ontario Blockbuster program supports municipalities and organizations in Ontario that host large-scale, high-impact signature events that draw significant tourist attendance and increase tourist spending, increase Ontario’s profile through media and broadcast exposure and provide significant economic impact and legacy development for the province.
Quick Facts
- Tourism is a key economic driver in Ontario – in 2018, the tourism industry supported more than 390,000 jobs and generated over $36 billion of economic activity for the province.
- Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, every $1 of provincial funding invested through Celebrate Ontario (the model for the Reconnect program) resulted in almost $21 of visitor spending. The impact of the 2021/22 Celebrate Ontario Blockbuster and Reconnect Festival and Event Program investment is estimated to generate over $1 billion in economic benefit across the province.
- Reconnect Festival and Event Program funding may be used for eligible expenses such as programming and production, marketing, mobile applications and website development, and making sure health and safety measures are put in place to keep audiences safe.
- As announced in the 2021 Budget, Ontario is investing more than $400 million over the next three years in new initiatives to support tourism, culture, sport and recreation sectors. This builds on investments of $225 million announced earlier, bringing the total support for these sectors to more than $625 million since the pandemic began.