Six event organizations in the North Cariboo are receiving provincial recovery funding.
In Quesnel, the Billy Barker Days Festival is getting $39,000, the Gold Dust Mall is receiving $3,800 for live music and the Quesnel Children’s Festival is getting $11,300.
The All’s Wells that ArtsWells is receiving $41,474 and the Sunset Theatre in Wells has been awarded $25,148 for a presentation series.
Read More: 2021 Billy Barker Days cancelled
In a Dec. 13 news release, Melanie Mark, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport said the BC Government overwhelmingly heard from event organizers that grants, not loans, were key to keeping their doors open to the public and workers employed.
The one-time grants will support event organizers in their efforts to resume safely.
On Facebook, the Billy Barker Days Society said it was thrilled to announce it was receiving a grant which would be used to get the Billy Barker Days Festival up and going again in 2022.
The Quesnel and District Arts Council was also happy and said it had been working with Quesnel’s Early Years Learning Table for three years to host a children’s festival. The volunteer-organized event is planned for May 28, 2022, at LeBourdais Park.
More than 680 events across the province are receiving a grant covering as much as 20 per cent of the total event budget, for a maximum of $250,000 through the Fairs, Festivals and Events Recovery Fund.
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