$1.23 MILLION FOR AREA FESTIVALS AND EVENTS TO CELEBRATE ONTARIO

PARRY SOUND-MUSKOKA — Festival season may be cut short, but the province is still funding events at twice the amount of past years.

Ontario says it is investing nearly $50 million to help festival and event organizers deliver innovative and safe experiences that allow people to safely reconnect with their communities.

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.

Locally that amounts to $1,229,865.

That includes:

• Township of Armour, Staycation In Almaguin – $18,800
• Huntsville Festival of the Arts 2021/22- $140,000
• Muskoka Chautauqua Arts & Culture Festival in Windermere Village – $113,500
• Lake of Bays and Huntsville COC, Huntsville SnowFest- $54,575
• Lake of Bays and Huntsville COC, Muskoka Winter Lights – $145,757
• Bracebridge BIA, Fire and Ice Festival – $23,550
• The Town of Bracebridge, Best of #TheBridge – $6,325
• Bala Cranberry Festival – $82,881
• FRC Marketing, Canada Day House Party 2021 – $91,500
• Muskoka Tourism Marketing Agency, Oktoberfest Muskoka – $19,652
• The Municipality of Magnetawan, Dinner and a Movie Series – $6,000
• 42nd Annual Festival of the Sound – $172,000
• Township of Georgian Bay, Honey Bee Festival – $205,675
• Sandhill Nursery, Sandhill Fall Celebration – $149,650
  The Reconnect program (known as Celebrate Ontario prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) was developed to help festival and event organizers adapt to new public health measures with virtual, drive-through and other safe offerings. This ensures support is directed to community-based events with safe, innovative experiences, while creating opportunities that encourage Ontarians to reconnect with the beauty and diversity of their community in new ways.
  This investment also includes $6 million to Celebrate Ontario Blockbuster events. The Celebrate Ontario Blockbuster program supports municipalities and organizations in Ontario to 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.
  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.