Christmas Lights Across Canada
| December 1, 2011 | to | January 7, 2012 |
From December 1, 2011, to January 7, 2012, Canada’s Capital Region will sparkle with more than 300,000 dazzling lights.
The Capital glitters and shines! Every night, Canada’s Capital will come alive, as more than 300,000 dazzling Christmas lights illuminate the heart of Ottawa-Gatineau. Be sure to join us for the illumination ceremony on Parliament Hill on December 1 to celebrate the start of the holiday season.
Festival Information:
General information: 613-239-5000 ● 1-800-465-1867 ● 613-239-5090 (TTY) ● 1-866-661-3530 (toll-free TTY)
General information email: info@ncc-ccn.ca
Location: Parliament Hill and various locations around the Capital
On the Web:
Website: www.christmaslights.gc.ca
Map:
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Festival City
Amen Jafri, Canada Arts Connect Magazine
If you flipped through the average Ottawa tourism brochure, you would be hard-pressed to find anything mentioning the burlesque performances and poetry slams that regularly sell-out in the city. You might learn, however, that in 2010 Ottawa was named the IFEA World Festival & Event City. Ottawa takes pride in its year-round festivals. Approximately 50 exist to-date, with new ones springing up every few years.
Why so many? According to Barbara Stacey, Executive Director at Ottawa Festivals, it’s because Ottawa’s unique environment – its diverse culture, its many partners (federal/provincial/municipal, NGOs, corporate, etc.) – simply opens up the opportunity. Loretto Beninger, an Ottawa researcher and academic who has extensively studied the city’s arts policy, offers an alternative perspective. She says the city uses an antiquated 1950s model to support local arts, narrowly defining what “culture” means: it’s either “people pirouetting in tutus or people throwing paint on a canvas.” Under this model, festivals are prized because “[they’re] temporary, [they’re] intense and [they’re] for a limited time period…a bit like the circus.”
Read more on the Canada Arts Connect Magazine website: Festival City
Music festivals fear for Canada Council grants
Canadian festival programmers are disappointed that the Canada Council for the Arts is not accepting applications for a well-used grant program that provided funding for programming initiatives and artistic collaborations.
In a letter dated Jan. 19, the council informed festivals across the country that it had cancelled the Feb. 15 deadline for its music festival programming project grants, which have been offered for more than 10 years.
Russell Kelley, head of the Canada Council’s music section, says the program has not been cut, but it is under review. “We’re trying to make sure, as we always do, that what we offer with the dollars that we have available is absolutely the most effective thing that we can do,” Kelley said Tuesday. “What’s happening now in this quarter of the fiscal year is that we’re starting the programs that go forward into the next fiscal year, and we looked at everything, going ‘OK, if we spend all of our money, we won’t necessarily be able to make the program changes that we’re looking to do.’ ”
In recent years, the $300,000 program awarded grants ranging from about $8,000 to $20,000 to music festivals for special projects, such as the composers’ collective at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival and a cross-cultural collaboration at the Ottawa Folk Festival that brought diverse artists together to create music in the week leading up to the festival.
While Kelley said he is not yet able to comment on how the funding will change, he promised there will be an announcement on a “larger picture” program in the next two or three months.
But that’s too late for festival organizers planning events this summer.
Read more: www.ottawacitizen.com
Festivals fear loss of grant dollars
Canadian festival programmers are disappointed the Canada Council for the Arts is not accepting applications for a well-used grant program that provided funding for programming intiatives and artistic collaborations.
In a letter dated Jan. 19, the council informed festivals it had cancelled the Feb. 15 deadline for its music festival programming project grants, which have been offered for more than 10 years. Russell Kelley, head of the Canada Council’s music section, says the program has not been cut, but it is under review.
“We’re trying to make sure, as we always do, that what we offer with the dollars that we have available is absolutely the most effective thing that we can do,” Kelley said Tuesday. “What’s happening now in this quarter of the fiscal year is we’re starting the programs that go forward into the next fiscal year, and we looked at everything, going ‘OK, if we spend all of our money, we won’t necessarily be able to make the program changes we’re looking to do.’ ”
Swing into summer: The ‘feel-good-Ottawa festival season’ is here
Lynn Saxberg, The Ottawa Citizen
Marc Charron gets a warm fuzzy feeling when he thinks about summertime in Ottawa. That’s peak festival season, of course, and being able to see fantastic concerts outdoors night after night is one of Charron’s favourite things about his hometown.
Published: Thursday, May 06, 2010
Ottawa Tourism Awards Ceremony at Casino Lac-Leamy – March 25
Ottawa Tourism will host the 2010 edition of the Ottawa Tourism Awards on Thursday, March 25 at 6:00 p.m. at the Casino du Lac-Leamy.
Twelve finalists in four major award categories will be recognized:
New Company of the Year
Éco-Odyssée, a paddleboat experience
UrbanQuest.com, an urban treasure hunt
Innovation of the Year
Coventry Connections, using GPS technology to improve taxi service
Tours of Parliament, streamlining the system for booking tours on Parliament Hill
Event of the Year
Camouflage exhibit at the Canadian War Museum
Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest
TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival
2009 IIHF World Junior Championship
Tourism Partnership of the Year
Downtown Rideau BIA and Arts Court for a summer theatre program in 2009
National Capital Commission and 26 partners for the 2009 Genie Awards
Ottawa International Airport Authority and Air Canada for their promotion of Ottawa-Frankfurt direct flights
Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and Rideau Canal Festival for A Musical Breeze, combining a cycling event and chamber music performances, in 2009
Two additional industry awards will be presented for Tourism Volunteer of the Year and Tourism Leader of the Year.
An embargoed release announcing the winners will be sent on the morning of March 25.
Three other award winners will be recognized at the event:
Alec Ross won the Ottawa Tourism Travel Writing Award for an article called A Capital Idea published in the September 2009 issue of Canadian Geographic Travel
Sampson Nabigon will be congratulated for being named the 2009 Star of the City
Debbie Morris, a student in Algonquin College’s School of Hospitality & Tourism, will receive the annual Tourism Scholarship
Over 200 tourism industry leaders are expected to attend this event in the Casino’s Théâtre, followed by a celebratory dinner.
Tickets can be purchased for $150 each or a table of 8 for $1,200.
The Ottawa Tourism Awards are coordinated by Ottawa Tourism and celebrate the individuals, organizations and events that have set high standards and demonstrated outstanding achievement, contributing to the growth and development of tourism in Ottawa and Canada’s Capital Region. Visit Ottawa Tourism at www.ottawatourism.ca.
Lansdowne Design Competition – Request for Proposals (RFP)
Maria Cook, Ottawa Citizen
The City of Ottawa has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to the five shortlisted firms for the Lansdowne Park design competition. It outlines what the City needs and wants and what the designs should include.
The types of events and activities that design proposals are expected to accommodate include but are not limited to creating a ’satellite site’ for:
- Winterlude;
- Remembrance Day ceremonies;
- Canada Day;
- Rideau Canal Festival;
- Colonel By Day;
- Parks Canada Players summer theatre program;
- Algonquin Canoe Building program;
- Jazz Festival;
- Bluesfest;
- Tulip Festival;
- National Capital marathon;
- Terry Fox Marathon;
- Other race events, charity walks, community days and cultural festivals;
- New Year’s Eve and Day celebrations;
- Winter Santa Village;
- Outdoor arts and craft shows/sales, concerts, artist day/art shows;
- Antique car shows, opening/closing ceremonies for local sports events and sports leagues; and
- The Great Glebe Garage Sale.
To accommodate larger events such as festivals and concerts, designs should include a multi-function area(s) that is durable and that can support intensive use by large numbers of people (5,000 — 10,000 people).
To read the full article, see Lansdowne design competition RFP.
HST will add to event ticket prices
Posted By BILL HENRY
SUN TIMES STAFF
Brace yourselves for higher ticket prices under the harmonized sales tax starting in July.
Some area arts organizations are scrambling to assess the HST’s full impact, analyzing both the higher ticket prices they’ll have to charge and the additional tax bite on their programming budgets.
The HST merges the 8% provincial sales tax and the 5% federal goods and service taxes into a single 13%. It means the end of current PST exemptions for many items and services, such as tickets to concerts and other public performances.
Arts groups expect both the tax hit and slower ticket sales will affect their bottom line.
Since performing arts groups in Ontario were not required to charge provincial tax on tickets, patrons will pay an additional 8% to see concerts, plays and other performances once the change comes in.
To read the full article, click here.
LOOKAHEAD 2010: A busy year for tourist industry
Jim Donnelly, Ottawa Business Journal
The head of Ottawa’s tourism authority is “cautiously optimistic” about this year’s upcoming tourist season, adding that any recuperation in his industry would be tied to an overall recovery in the economy.
“It would seem as if there has been a bit of growth in consumer confidence (lately), there’s been a couple months of growth in the economy,” said Ottawa Tourism president and CEO Noel Buckley. “And tourism, like everything, is afffected by macroeconomic conditions.
As far as the upcoming year is concerned, Mr. Buckley said a host of catalysts will work in the National Capital Region’s favour including the opening of Calypso Waterpark, the re-opening of a newly renovated Museum of Nature in late May and continued momentum from the region’s festivals and one-off yearly events such as the Canadian Tulip Festival, Ottawa Race Weekend and Bluesfest.
“I think those all bode well for 2010,” he said.
Full article is available at OBJ online: LOOKAHEAD 2010: A busy year for tourist industry
Deadline for Festival and Events Ontario (FEO) Awards Applications (January 8, 2010)
FEO Top 100 & Achievement Awards applications are still available, but not for long!
Festivals & events industry professionals exude two very notable qualities – passion & commitment. The Festival and Events Ontario (FEO) Awards Program is created to give recognition to the countless hours spent on creating world-class festivals/events here in Ontario.
January 8th, 2010, is the deadline for applications. That means there are only two weeks left to get them into the FEO office. This is an opportunity you do not want to miss!
Past recipients will tell you that being a Top 100 Festival has helped in building community spirit and support. They will also share with you that being a Top 100 festival is a strong marketing tool and can be used when generating sponsorship, looking for media support, or filling out grant applications.
Our Achievement Awards are dedicated to featuring special qualities and/or components of a festival or event. Whether it is an interactive virtual campaign, or a go-green idea, we want to see what makes your festival stand out. Every festival has something that makes them distinct from any other festival. Show us what makes yours unique.
As an added bonus, if you are a FEO Top 100 or Achievement Award recipient, your festival/event will be highlighted in our annual guide.
Applications can be found using the links below, or on our website at www.festivalsandeventsontario.ca. Hope to see your applications soon!
