OTF Grant Provides OGF the Funds to Sustain Programming During the Pandemic

In April 2022, Ottawa Grassroots Festival received a Resilient Communities Fund grant in the amount of $23,300 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The funding will be used over the period of one year between the 2022 and 2023 festivals. Ottawa Grassroots Festival (OGF) is grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation Resilient Communities Fund for supporting our core values of inclusion and participation. We work every year to make the 4-day festival program accessible, family-friendly, participatory and culturally diverse. Daytime activities are free to remove financial barriers, with ticketed evening concerts to support artist fees. Our programming showcases diverse local and regional artists, e.g, all abilities, young and established performers, Indigenous, francophone, LGBTQ2S+. “Without the funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, we could not have sustained the level of local programming or free public workshops during the pandemic”, said OGF President Lynn Chiarelli. We were able to shift gears to virtual technical production so people could stay safe at home, but still be part of the planning, performing or participant experience. This year, funds will help us do even more to reach out and involve key volunteers and work with our local partners, keeping our small organization strong and resilient during uncertain times.`` This generous financial investment has greatly assisted the festival's ability to continue despite the financial impact of the ongoing COVID pandemic. The Trillium funds gave us the stability we needed to adapt our approach, keep our key volunteers involved and continue to provide local artists with opportunities to work and connect with their audience. The funding from OTF Resilient Communities has and will continue to support hybrid technical production, develop volunteer health and safety tools and develop a communications and partnership development plan. We thank the Ontario Trillium Foundation for its ongoing investment in our volunteer-run community festival so we can help people connect and celebrate during difficult times and help local artists sustain their craft during a tough period for the music industry. The Ottawa Grassroots Festival is a non-profit, community-based, volunteer-run organization dedicated to cultivating community at the local level through a vibrant annual festival of concerts and participatory workshops. For more information about the Ottawa Grassroots Festival, to become a partner or sponsor, or to apply as a volunteer or artist please visit: ottawagrassrootsfestival.com. The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. Last year, nearly $112M was invested into 1,384 community projects and partnerships to build healthy and vibrant communities and strengthen the impact of Ontario’s non-profit sector. In 2020/21, OTF supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Visit otf.ca to learn more.