By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

$150,000 granted for wide variety of downtown events this year

Mar 9, 2018 | 6:09 PM

NANAIMO — More events are taking advantage of funding specifically for festivals, art walks and parades downtown.

Nanaimo City Council approved $150,000 worth of funding for downtown events this week. This is the second year they’ve provided the money, taking over from the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association who folded in 2017.

Four events, the Nanaimo International Jazz Festival, Commercial St. Night Market, Summertime Blues Festival and the Marine Festival, received more than $10,000.

Of the 34 applications, 32 were eligible for the funding with 17 of them being new downtown events.

Dale Lindsay, director of community development, told Council there’s strong interest from the community, especially since the funding amount was raised more than $30,000 for this year.

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“There’s definitely an increase in demand. Even with the $150,000, we weren’t able to respond to every request and suggestion for events in 2018.”

Many requests weren’t fully funded. A staff report showed the total ask to the City for the 34 events was more than $280,000.

At the meeting, councillors expressed interest in holding back a portion of funding for events which are planned later in 2018, since the submission deadline is the end of January. Motions directing staff to hold back some funds are expected at a future council meeting.

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