Future of Toronto street festival on the rocks after lack of funding
The continuation of a beloved street festival in Toronto is on the rocks after its organizers announced that the community event had not received the crucial funding needed from the provincial government.
The Geary Art Crawl was produced by Uma Nota Culture in 2021, and was immediately a massive hit amongst the local community, with an estimated 30,000 people passing through the lively street festival in its first year.
The two-day rain-or-shine celebration of art and culture takes place on Geary Avenue between Ossington Avenue to the very west end of Geary. The festival features lots of music, visual art installations, pop-ups, and food, with a focus on local businesses and vendors.
In an update shared on the art crawl's website and Instagram page on Aug. 5, the Uma Nota Culture team informed attendees that the festival had not received key funding from the province despite several years of successful programming.
"This was due, in part, to a reduction in program funding back to pre-pandemic levels," the update reads.
"In addition, timelines for the rollout of the program, which funds festivals and events, have been significantly delayed, sending many scrambling after the fact or at the 11th hour," the announcement continues.
"We are not alone in this, and have been working with industry advocacy groups to address it. At this point, we are trying to appeal to the province and the City to see if they can help us reach the minimum required budget to produce the 2023 Geary Art Crawl on our previously announced dates of September 23 and 24th."
The update went on to encourage festival attendees to get in touch with the Premier, Ministry of Tourism, local MPPs, MPs, and city councillors to let them know that the art crawl is a significant event that is worth funding.
The organizers also provided a donation link to keep the festival alive, and revealed that they're continuing the search for sponsors, volunteers, and programming hosts.
With the two-day event a month away, the community still has time to save the street festival for its third rendition, which is slated to take place on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24.
Geary Art Crawl
