Discussion Groups Feed

Hi Members,

Extreme weather events are becoming an increasingly common and costly challenge for live music events across Canada – particularly for outdoor concerts and festivals.

The Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) is launching a national survey to better understand how climate-related disruptions such as wildfires, floods, storms, and extreme heat are affecting live music operations, planning, finances, and safety.

Your input will directly inform the development of a Climate Contingency Roadmap: a practical, sector-specific suite of tools to help live music operators anticipate, plan for, and respond to climate disruptions.

The survey is confidential and designed to reflect the realities of operators working under tight budgets and growing uncertainty.

Sharing this funding initiative which aims to showcase, across Canada, the richness of talent in contemporary Irish arts and culture.!

Canada-Ireland 180 – Calls for Expressions of Interest

Culture Ireland and the Embassy of Ireland to Canada are seeking expressions of interest from artists, ensembles and cultural organisations to participate in an Irish season of arts and culture in Canada in 2027. 

They are inviting proposals from artists and their representatives, curators, venues and presenters interested in participating in this special programme, including from companies which already have outline plans for work to be presented in Canada in 2027.

Funding for this initiative will be awarded under two strands:

Strand 1: Funding provided by Culture Ireland will support the presentation/touring of work by Irish professional artists usually based in Ireland covering all artforms at Canadian venues, festivals, galleries and institutions. Irish and Canadian organisations (programming touring Irish artists) are both…

Hello Members,

For OFN's 30th anniversary year, the OFN team is putting together a marketing campaign to celebrate and showcase our members and all you bring to this amazing city!

Campaign Concept:  

• A year long (Q2-Q4) series of festival giveaways, spotlighting at least 30 participating member organization to the public on OFN channels through digital and printed materials 

• Think “advent calendar” style format – individuals will interact/subscribe to the overall campaign and be notified of each giveaway and prompted to “opt-in” for the giveaway(s) they’re interested in.  

Hello members, I wanted to share the following message from the Canadian Live Music Association as it is relevant to many of you. Thanks!

Le lien vers le sondage est disponible ici en français.

The CLMA is actively working on behalf of its members — commercial and non-profit alike — to improve how the live music industry engages with SOCAN and to ensure fees and related processes are fair, transparent, and workable across the sector.

Final Days to Save 10% on Membership Plans

Hello Members,

Here is your last reminder to submit your membership renewals before the end of January.

Why?

Save money! Submit your plan and add-on selections by Jan. 31st to save 10% on any paid plans (excludes add-ons).

Plus, renewing your membership is required in order to remain active with OFN. If we don’t hear from you before the end of January, we’ll contact you directly to confirm your membership.

Hello Members,

OFN is happy to share a member-exclusive 20% discount to EnviroCentre's upcoming symposium on Connecting the Dots on Greener Events.

OFN Members can use the code: EC_events20 at checkout to apply the discount.

Thank you to our partners at EnvrioCentre, we look forward to participating in this day.

(P.S. OFN's Tara Shannon will be speaking at this event to open important conversations on the impact, opportunity, and responsibility of festival and events to advance environmental sustainability and green initiatives. ♻️)

See more details at the link below.

“Event Professionals we need your help! Please complete the AI survey below as we are collecting data which will impact curriculum content in post secondary event programs.

The findings of this research will benefit the event planning industry by:

• Providing a clearer understanding of how AI is being used in the field and its potential for growth.

• Identifying essential AI-related skills that industry professionals should master to remain competitive and efficient.

• Helping shape future training and development programs that align with the technological advancements impacting the profession.

We would greatly appreciate your participation in a brief survey, which will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Your responses will be anonymous, and all data collected will be used strictly for research purposes.

Sharing the upcoming City of Ottawa deadline for 2026 Arts Funding Program.

2026 Deadline

• Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 4 pm

The application must be filled out and submitted through the city's Online Portal.

Please note the recent changes to cultural funding policy:

• Applicants may submit only one application per fiscal year to the Cultural funding support unit’s programs, with the exception of the Capacity building program and the Cultural facilities fund. 

Hello everyone! Sharing information on a new RFP for the design and delivery of a signature public event on September 26, 2026 as part of Bytown's 200th anniversary celebrations.

It's great to see the city has opened up this bidding opportunity for local event producers. See details below!

The City of Ottawa has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP No. 41626‑96205‑P01) for the design and delivery of a signature public event in celebration of Bytown’s 200th anniversary on September 26, 2026.

This procurement seeks an experienced proponent to deliver a turnkey, inclusive, and community‑focused anniversary event that reflects Ottawa’s past, present, and future. The resulting event will coincide with the City’s bicentennial milestone and is intended to be freely accessible to residents and visitors.