Hello, folks! In my next newsletter, I’ll be able to talk about a secret project I’ve been working on for the last year and a half, so I’m looking forward to that. If you follow me on Bluesky, Instagram or Facebook, I’ll be sharing the news there once it’s out.
Today, I want to talk about the situation facing Canadian cultural events and festivals.
In many cases, paying audiences are still not back to the levels they were at before the pandemic began. First the mid-pandemic global inflation and supply chain crisis, and now the new global economic crisis engineered by the U.S. government, have ensured that ticket revenue is likely to remain stagnant; people are cutting back on discretionary expenses, for good reasons.
The same government is destabilizing stock markets, and that always has an effect on the philanthropic sector. Another thing having an enormous impact on donor behaviour around the world right now is the destruction of USAID and other U.S. agencies; wealthy individuals and foundations are shifting their money to try to fill in the most urgent gaps — ie, to keep babies alive. That means that there is less money to go around for everything, including arts and culture.
And rising costs affect the shoestring budgets of cultural organizations and non-profits, too.
You would think that, since these threats to Canadian cultural events are largely due to the aggressively destructive behaviour of the U.S. government, that Canadian governments would stand ready to lead a defence of Canadian cultural industries as part of the overall national response to that behaviour — you know, elbows up and all that. So far, I haven’t seen a lot of evidence that they are.
In fact, the Ottawa International Writers Festival just let its community know that the Ontario government is not funding the festival as it usually does. This is only the second time in more than 15 years that the provincial funding hasn’t come through, and it means the festival may need to make changes. I’ve been going to this festival as a reader and a writer for more than 20 years. The community space it has built is an incredible public good. If you can, please join me in supporting the festival as a patron, or buy a ticket to an upcoming event. They stream most of their events now online, for a discounted price, so you can enjoy their offerings even if you don’t live in Ottawa.
The Freewill Shakespeare Festival in Edmonton, which has been operating since 1989, is currently holding a fundraiser to keep itself alive.
Here in Ottawa, A Company of Fools is celebrating its 35th anniversary — hooray! My kid and I go to their outdoor Shakespeare performances every year, and we have done since he was very small. They make a real effort to bring Shakespeare to schools and make his work accessible to people of all incomes. This year, they’re fundraising to be able to afford their own space.
Another festival that could really use our support is Word on the Street Toronto, which connects authors and readers to talk about books, and is free to attend.
I know there are many other small, local festivals and programs that would appreciate anything we can give, and/or our voices raised to politicians to remind them that arts and culture are particularly vulnerable to the overlapping crises that the U.S. president and his many cowardly enablers have created.
Love to everyone fighting on all the many fronts this week, and I look forward to sharing happy news soon!