BC announces $12.9 million Fairs, Festivals and Events Recovery Fund
Province will take applications for the one-time grant starting August 27
The new fund is aimed at helping events like the PNE survive long into the future.
AT THE PNE today, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Melanie Mark announced a $12.9 million recovery fund for fairs, festivals, and events.
It’s aimed at helping events take place between July 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022. Many landmark Vancouver fests had to either cancel or move online this year, from Bard on the Beach to the Vancouver Folk Festival.
The one-time grant amounts for each event will be up to 20 percent of the total event budget, to a maximum of $250,000 per application. It will start taking those applications tomorrow, August 27, until October 1.
Mark cited events from “culture crawls” to rodeos and “exhibitions” as potential recipients, recognizing the grant should be as widely usable as possible to match the diversity of needs across the province’s fairs and fests. She said it could be used for everything from PPE to wages and marketing, with a goal of helping organizations hit hard by pandemic shutdowns to reopen.
“We know it’s been a tough year and we want these events to be here for a long time to come,” Mark said at the press conference.
Earlier this summer, the PNE had been seeking an $8-million boost from the provincial government to help the it climb out of debt. CEO Shelley Frost welcomed the new infusion as a further way to rebuild: “I can say with confidence that today’s announcement not only is very welcome news for many of the incredibly important community organizations that need support but this is the road to recovery.”
In May, the government announced a $50-million BC Major Anchor Attractions Program that offered up to $1 million per attraction through one-time grants to sites like galleries, museums, science centres, amusement parks, wildlife parks, botanical gardens, and heritage institutions. It appears the new $12.9 million for fests and fairs is money left over from that fund, after the government awarded $36.8 million to major anchor attractions and tour bus operators at that time.
“I’m not going to leave money on the table,” Mark said.
Details on the criteria and applying for the funding is at gov.bc.ca/fairs-festivals-events-recovery.
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