Major Festivals Fund will provide $1 million boost to Ottawa’s festivals

Tara Shannon, Executive Director of Ottawa Festival Network speaking at the Ottawa Festival Summit.

Subject to budget approval, the City of Ottawa in partnership with Ottawa Tourism will launch a two-year pilot program to increase financial support to Ottawa’s larger, tourism-generating festivals. The Major Festivals Fund will provide an additional $1 million per year to festivals with the largest tourism and economic impact.

Mayor Sutcliffe announced the new fund today at City Hall during the Ottawa Festival Summit, organized jointly by the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Festival Network. The summit brought together festival organizers, event producers, community partners and City officials for a series of discussions detailing how festivals build economic vitality, cultural richness and community belonging. Mayor Sutcliffe hosted Executive and Artistic Director of Bluesfest, Mark Monahan for a fireside chat to discuss what’s ahead for the festival and how this funding can help.

In addition to the funding announcement, summit participants committed to a collective vision statement providing a clearer, stronger partnership, grounded in shared responsibilities and recognition of the enormous cultural, economic and social value that festivals bring to Ottawa.

Ottawa Tourism will administer the Major Festivals Fund. Over the coming months, Ottawa Tourism will develop the criteria to ensure the funds are used to support tourism and grow the local economy. It will be funded through a proposed one per cent increase in the Municipal Accommodation Tax, which is a tax on overnight visitation to the city administered by hotels and other accommodation properties.

Funds generated through the Municipal Accommodation Tax are invested in destination marketing, sales, and development activities through Ottawa Tourism, the city’s official destination marketing and management organization. Ottawa Tourism promotes Ottawa for leisure visitors, meetings and conventions, major events, media relations, tour operators, and travel trade. Ottawa Tourism also invests in long-term destination development initiatives aimed at enhancing the visitor experience.

Quotes

“Ottawa is a city of festivals. It's amazing to see that we have more festivals per capita than any other city in Canada. Our festivals contribute so much to our community. They improve quality of life for our residents. They help attract tourists and employees to our city. They drive economic activity. And they create great memories. This new support will ensure our marquee festivals continue to grow and succeed. I'm grateful to the Ottawa Festival Network for their terrific work, and to all our festival organizers for their creativity and ingenuity."

Mark Sutcliffe, Mayor of Ottawa

Ottawa Tourism proudly supports the continued success and growth of our tourism-generating festivals that create time-bound reasons for people to travel to Ottawa, adding to our city’s economic prosperity and quality of life for residents and visitors”

Michael Crockatt, President and CEO, Ottawa Tourism

“We are thrilled by the launch of the Major Festivals Fund. This is a powerful recognition of the impact our festivals have on Ottawa’s cultural and economic life. It’s an exciting step forward for our sector, and we’re grateful for this commitment to helping our festivals thrive and continue to shine."

Tara Shannon, Executive Director, Ottawa Festival Network