The increasingly popular Multicultural Festival, spearheaded by Karthi Rajamani of the Pembroke Public Library, got a major boost in the form of funding from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund to the tune of $20,000.
Thomas Vaughan, Executive Director of OCAF, was on hand alongside MPP Billy Denault to make the announcement Thursday, which was part of a much larger injection of capital announced by Denault for a handful of events across the Ottawa Valley.
OCAF is a not-for-profit organization created by the Ontario government and operates under a transfer payment agreement with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. Specifically, OCAF provides funds for the marketing and promotion of arts, culture and heritage related events and attractions in Ontario.
Rajamani noted that the Pembroke Multicultural Festival has grown from a small, library-based attraction in 2006 to one of the biggest summer events in the City of Pembroke, and is expected to surpass all previous attendance records with this summer’s offering.
Pam McNichol, Vice-Chair of the Barry’s Bay BIA, was also on hand to accept a $10,000 infusion of capital courtesy of OCAF toward their annual Bay Day celebration coming up again this summer.
Vaughan noted that recent studies have shown that a large number of Ontarians actually plan to stay in their own backyard:
Vaughan also noted that OCAF is well aware of the fact that marketing budgets are historically the first area to be cut when it comes to event planning, and he feels that this does a great disservice to the event itself.
The $200,000-plus in funding announced will go toward a total of six festivals across the Ottawa Valley this year, including the Multicultural Festival and Bay Day.
(Written By: Richard Evans)
