Attachment 2

2002EAC02

Summary of Applications.

Accordion Extravaganza (formerly Polkafest)

“... an exuberant, extravagant exposition of accordion music. This instrument is used in many cultures throughout Canada and this festival tries to bring people of all ages, cultures and occupations together through their common love for the accordion.”

Funding History

YEAR / AMOUNT / % REVENUE
2002 Grant Request / $2,400 / 20.0%
2001 Revenue
2001 Grant Actual (Request) / $11,119
$2,000($3,541) / 18.0%
2000 Grant Actual / $2,000 / 15.7%
1999 Grant Actual / $1,990 / 14.9%
1998 Grant Actual / $1,500(SEED) / n/a
1997 Grant Actual / $1,500(SEED) / n/a

Summary 2001

  • The 2001 festival took place October 12-14 at Leefield Community Centre
  • Core content of the festival included an Accordion Concert, a dance, accordion competitions, workshops, accordion fair and market place, open stage non-stop music, silent auction, and a Dinner Dance.
  • ticket prices ranged from $5.00 to $12.00, children under 12 Free.
  • 48 volunteers gave approximately 700 hours
  • The 553 attendees came from Sask., AB., and BC

Festival Plans 2002

  • Programmed events will remain similar to last year
  • Focus on competitions
  • May have a cabaret style concert
  • attendance estimated at 600

Summary of Jury Comments

The festival is unique and has limited appeal to a broad audience.

The jury advises the festival to increase efforts in partnership development and to continue to develop expanded programming beyond the focus of the competition.

As was the case last year, the jury expressed concern that the application lacks a clear vision regarding the organization’s ability and plans to maintain continued growth. The festival must establish itself in 2002.

The jury recommends a grant equivalent to the grant received in 2001.

Grant Recommendation $2000.

CARIWEST

“ a celebration of life, heritage, freedom, artistic expression and optimism”

Funding History

YEAR / AMOUNT / % REVENUE
2002 Grant Request / $45,000 / 15.2%
2001 Grant Actual(Request) / $30,000($75,000) / 8.6%
2001 Revenue / 350,050
2000 Grant Actual
1999 Grant Actual / $22,200
$19,950 / 11.4%
7.1%
1998 Grant Actual / $17,000 / 8.1%
1997 Grant Actual / $19,000 / 10.1%
1996 Grant Actual / $17,000 / 8.9%
1995 Grant Actual / $14,000 / 6.95%

Festival Summary 2001

  • The 17th Annual Cariwest Festival took place August 9 – 12 during the Worlds.
  • The festival included a parade on 103 Avenue, Caribbean breakfasts and free events at Churchill Square. There were 2 ticketed events at the Shaw Conference Centre: the Costume Extravaganza and show on Friday and a Saturday night dance. Ticket price ranged from $5.00 to $30.00.
  • Estimated total attendance was 87,000+ (including parade)
  • About 163 volunteer working about 3830 hours

Festival Plans 2002

  • The festival is planned for August 9 – 11, returns to a 3-day event and the 2000 location
  • The theme is a celebration of life, heritage, freedom, artistic expression, and optimism for the future.
  • Programming will be similar from previous years
  • Attendance is projected at 150,000

Summary of Jury Comments

In the opinion of the jury, the festival is unique, popular and accessible. The jury noted the organization successfully met the challenges of producing last year’s festival in conjunction with the 2001 Worlds.

The jury encourages the organization to increase efforts in audience development.

While the application was generally more clear than in past years, the jury encourages the organization to work with the EAC Grants Officer prior to the next application in order to more clearly describe the organization’s financial status.

The jury recommends a grant equivalent to the grant received in 2001.

Grant Recommendation $30,000

Comedy Arts Festival

“to present art which uses humour and comedy to delight, inform, challenge and inspire audiences.”

Funding History

YEAR / AMOUNT / % REVENUE
2002 Grant Request / $35,000 / 19.2%
2001 Revenue / $132,613
2001 Grant Actual (Request) / $20,000(30,000) / 15.1%

2000 Grant Actual$6,100(SEED) 7.3%

Note: Funding resulting from this application will be used for the January 2003 festival. Funding received through the 2001 Festival Operating Program was in support of the January 2002 festival.

Festival Summary 2002

  • The Comedy Arts Festival was held January 23 - 28 at the Winspear Centre, Sheraton Grande Hotel, Library Theatre, Urban Lounge, and the Arts Barns
  • The festival featured 56 Canadian artists in 10 shows and 5 venues. Programming included commissioning of Sub-Plot, a visual art exhibit, launch of Fun Fest, 2 days of free family events downtown, Cheap Laughs, showcase of Edmonton talent and included hosting the first international act
  • 84 volunteers provided 1,200 hours of service
  • Attendance was over 4,000
  • Average ticket price was $12 and $35 for the Comedy Arts Gala and Brunch
  • The 2002 festival had a surplus on operations of $223.00

Festival Plans 2003

  • The 2003 festival takes place from January 17-26
  • Anticipate commissioning of 2 new works, short new works from local artists, and further artistic development of family and youth programming
  • The festival will grow adding four days of programming
  • Projected attendance for 2003 is 6,500-7,500

Summary of Jury Comments

The festival is unique and rated above average overall. The jury noted the festival’s innovative programming, successful marketing strategies and partnership development.

In the opinion of the jury the festival is well managed financially. The jury noted development of youth and family programs and rated the festival high on cultural development.

The jury recommends an increase to the grant received in 2001 to support the festival in achieving more of its perceived potential.

Grant Recommendation $22,000 plus the special $100 jury award for best written application

Edmonton Celebrate Canada

“a ten day, city-wide festival to unite Canadians in a celebration of the quality and advantages of our homeland and offer events and activities that are open to all and encourage widespread participation”

Funding History

YEAR / AMOUNT / % REVENUE
2002 Grant Request / $48,400 / 12.7%
2001 Grant Actual (Request) / $17,000($25,000) / 5.1%
2001 Revenue / $330,100
2000 Grant Actual
1999 Grant Actual / $15,000
$14,950 / 10.3%
10.5%
1998 Grant Actual / $12,000 / 12.6%
1997 Grant Actual / $12,000 / 4.5%
1996 Grant Actual / $12,000 / 18.7%
1995 Grant Actual / $12,000 / not known

Festival Summary 2001

  • The 2001 festival took place June 21 to July 1 throughout the city. It is a mixture of events and celebrations organized and produced by various groups and coordinated by the Edmonton Celebrate Canada Society.
  • This year Molson Canadian Big Birthday presented a free outdoor concert. The festival culminates in a large fireworks display at the Legislature on July 1 in the evening.
  • Total attendance is estimated at over 125,000.
  • Most events are free. Ticketed events are coordinated through individual organizations.
  • The number of volunteers is estimated at 1,500 donating over 8,000 hours of service. The volunteers come from the individual organizations taking part in the festival.
  • More than 30 artists were employed or contracted, and over 50% live in the greater Edmonton area.
  • The organization reported a surplus on operations of $8,200

Festival Plans 2002

  • June 21 to July 1
  • Similar programming to previous year.
  • Increased attendance to 150,000+

Summary of Jury Comments

The jury acknowledges the importance of this festival to the City in celebrating Canada, Canadian heritage and Canadian citizenship. In particular the jury noted the popularity and accessibility of the fireworks display on July 1.

Additionally, the festival rated high on attendance as a measure of public support and broad appeal.

As in past years, the jury requests that in future applications the organization clearly distinguish between the events produced and the events promoted by the Edmonton Celebrate Canada Society.

The jury recommends a grant equivalent to the grant received in 2001. Receipt of this grant is contingent upon final confirmation of the specifics of Edmonton Celebrate Canada Society’s plans for the July 1, 2002 Edmonton Celebrate Canada including the location of the fireworks and the presence and nature of outdoor concerts produced by the organization.

Grant Recommendation $17,000

Letter of Appeal from Edmonton Celebrate Canada and the decision of the Edmonton Arts Council Appeal Committee

March 8, 2002

Attention: Marty Chan, Chair

Board of Directors

Edmonton Arts Council

Suite 308, 10310 Jasper Avenue

EDMONTON AB T5J 2W4

Dear Mr. Chan:

Re: Appeal of 2002 Festival Operating Community Investment Grant

Edmonton Celebrate Canada Society is asking to appeal the recommendation of the 2002 Grant.

We believe the Jury and Board is failing to appreciate fully the following points:

  1. Significant improvement in corporate support rectifying past concerns of the Jury and Board.
  1. Our city grant per citizen served is a fraction of any other major or minor festival.
  1. Our proportion of corporate support relative to government support is considerably improved for 2001.
  1. The Jury appears to continue to favour the high cost, high admission festivals and gives apparently only nominal appreciation to a pure community festival with no staff costs, nil rent and extremely low overhead, fully and freely accessible to all.

  1. Lack of any real appreciation of our significant growth. We entertained more people in one day than Folk Fest did in their whole weekend and we don’t charge citizens to enjoy the show but our grant is a mere fraction of what less popular festivals receive.
  1. The jury totally ignored the security and crowd comfort challenges we faced last year while entertaining if not the largest, certainly one of the largest concert crowds of 2001.
  1. Given the amount of federal support of Edmonton festivals and the sizable increase in federal grants this year, we would most appreciate more city support for the celebration of our nation.

Kindly reconsider the 2002 Grant Recommendation and we request an appropriate increase to reflect the significant improvements, needs and community benefits of Edmonton Celebrate Canada.

Best regards,

Randall Way

Co-Chair

March 14, 2002

Randall Way, Co-Chair

Edmonton Celebrate Canada Society

419 Capilano Centre, 9945 – 50 Street

Edmonton, AB T6A 0L4

Dear Mr. Way,

The Appeal Committee of the Edmonton Arts Council has met and, based on the content of the letter of March 8, 2002 from Edmonton Celebrate Canada Society, has considered your organization's appeal of the Festival Peer Jury recommendation for the 2002 City of Edmonton Community Investment Festival Operating Grant.

The Edmonton Arts Council intends its process to be fair. Any applicant may appeal to the Appeal Committee of the Edmonton Arts Council Board of Directors in the case where it can be demonstrated that the relevant Peer Jury was in error of their understanding of the application.

In the opinion of the Appeal Committee, the Festival Peer Jury understood Edmonton Celebrate Canada Society’s application in support of Edmonton Celebrate Canada. The Appeal Committee has, therefore decided to not overturn the Festival Peer Jury's recommendation.

In making its decision the Appeal Committee noted the recommended grant ($17,000) is the same as last year's grant. This is consistent with most of the recommendations of the Festival Peer Jury in 2002. There were five new applicants and the additional funds ($25,000) went mostly to those applicants.

Further, the Appeal Committee addressed the seven points made in the letter of appeal in the following manner:

1.Past juries have noted that the Celebrate Canada Festival has considerably less corporate funding than any other festival (4.24% compared to the average of 11.6%) and have urged the organizers to consider initiatives to increase corporate funding should the expansion of their activities on Canada Day be desired. In addition, the organization does not undertake other forms of fundraising that are common to most arts or festival organizations, e.g., casinos. Past jury reports have not, however, made increased corporate support a condition or a direct catalyst for increased City of Edmonton Community Investment Grant support.

2.Although evidence of public support is an important factor in determining the grant recommendation, a grant based directly on per capita or attendee is not used nor recommended by the City policy that guides the EAC grant process. In addition, a recent report to City Council indicated that the Celebrate Canada Festival event receives a substantial direct contribution from the City in the form of donated police services and road closures – this contribution totals approximately $56,000 and is unique to this festival. Any other festival would be charged for this service. When combined with the City of Edmonton Community Investment Grant, this results in a total of approximately $73,000 direct support of the event by the City. The EAC fully supports this additional support to the Edmonton Celebrate Canada Festival and feels that our national holiday has significant unique features that merit this unique support by the City.

  1. same as response 1

4.The grants recommendations represent balanced support for many different types of festivals including festivals that are essentially free to the public (e.g., Heritage Festival, Klondike Days, The Works, Dragon Boat Festival, Celebrate Canada Festival, New Year's Eve) to those that are a combination of free and ticketed events (e.g., Fringe, Cariwest, Street Performers) to those that are primarily ticketed events (e.g., Folk Music Festival, Jazz City, River City Shakespeare, Local Heroes Film Festival). It is very important to note, however, that even those events that are ticketed, e.g., Edmonton Folk Music Festival, distributes a substantial number of free admissions. In the case of the Folk Festival, all children under the age of 12, all seniors, and all residents of Cloverdale are offered free admission. In addition, the Folk Music Festival donates over 1,600 tickets annually to special needs organization in the city, e.g., Boys’ and Girls’ Club, Womens’ Emergency Shelter, and Youth Emergency Shelter.

5.It is the opinion of the Appeal Committee that the Edmonton Celebrate Canada Festival receives an adequate grant from this source. A comparison can be seen in the following chart.

operating revenue (cash) / operating revenue
(cash /in-kind) / grant / grant as
% of revenue (cash) / grant as
% of revenue
(cash/in-kind)
Celebrate Canada Festival / $113,500 / $383,500 / $17,000 / 14.9% / 4.5%
Heritage Days / $268,700 / $340,700 / $35,000 / 13.0% / 10.3%
Fringe[1] / $1,686,600 / $1,686,600 / $135,000 / 8.0% / 8.0%
Cariwest / $238,600 / $296,600 / $30,000 / 12.6% / 10.1%
Shakespeare / $307,080 / $382,080 / $35,000 / 11.4% / 9.2%
Local Heroes / $315,185 / $385,185 / $45,000 / 14.3% / 11.7%
Total all festivals / $7,980,000[2] / $9,961,193 / $844,000 / 10.6% / 8.5%

The Celebrate Canada Festival records the highest proportion of in-kind support of any of the applicants (approximately 79% of the organization’s revenue is from in-kind support). The next highest record of in-kind support is Earth Day at 71% and, on average, festivals receive about 21% of their annual operating revenue from donations in-kind. The EAC requires a detailed breakdown of the in-kind support if that support exceeds 15% of the total annual operating revenue of the applicant. While this breakdown is given, to varying degrees of detail, the amounts are often unrecorded in the audited or reviewed financial statements accompanying the grant applications. It is therefore difficult to verify the value of the in-kind donations in the normal grant review process. If that verification was considered to be essential, the recommended process would be to request letters from each of the in-kind donors verifying the amount of their contribution, the date, and the purpose of the donation. The federal government does require this documentation on some of their grant programs.

It is important to note that this grant is in support of the specific activities of this non-profit society on Canada Day– it is not a grant in support of the overall celebrations that take place in Edmonton on Canada Day which include a multitude of activities produced by many organizations.

6.same response as 5

7.Increased federal support of other Edmonton festivals is not a reason to provide more support for the Celebrate Canada Festival. The argument seems to be that since Canada Day is a 'federal' event and since the federal government is providing increased support to 'municipal' events, the City should provide increased support to Canada Day. This is not a consideration made by the EAC Festival Peer Jury nor is there any indication that the City wishes this to be a factor in the process.

Finally, on behalf of the Edmonton Arts Council I would like to assure you of our support for Edmonton Celebrate Canada Festival.

Sincerely,

Marty Chan, Chair

Edmonton Arts Council Board of Directors

Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival

“The festival embraces a far-east culture through education, entertainment, and event.”

Funding History

YEAR / AMOUNT / % REVENUE
2002 Grant Request / $24,000 / 15.7%
2001 Grant Actual (Request) / 0(0)
2001 Revenue / $146,144
2000 Grant Actual(Request) / 0($10,000)
1999 Grant Actual / $5,980 / 5.0%
1998 Grant Actual / $5,000(SEED)
1997 Grant Actual / $3,000(SEED)

Note: The organization applied for funding in 2000 but no grant was recommended. The organization did not apply in 2001.

Festival Summary 2001

  • The Fifth Annual Edmonton Open Competition took place from August 17-19
  • Events include: Lion Dance, “Blessing of the Boats,” barbecue and dance, multicultural food and music, and the Dragon Boat Races.
  • Formed first junior team
  • Inner city schools invited down to the festival
  • Over 75 volunteers contributing 1050 hours
  • Attendance estimated at 10,000
  • Free admission
  • Project a loss on operations of $3,657.

Festival Plans 2002

  • The Sixth Annual Edmonton Open Competition will take place from August 16-18
  • Programming will be similar including general improvements to site
  • Adding an educational children’s activity area and expanding Junior program
  • Attendance projected at 11,000

Summary of Jury Comments

The jury recognizes the merit of this festival and wishes to support it. The event has broad appeal and is accessible.

The jury would welcome efforts in partnership development and revenue diversification.

In order to achieve its potential full festival status, the jury encourages the organization to increase efforts in program development to expand beyond and enhance the competition.

Grant Recommendation $5000.

Earth Day Festival

“ To celebrate the planet in Arts and Music and at the same time learn to tread a little lighter in our daily lives”

Funding History

YEAR / AMOUNT / % REVENUE
2002 Grant Request / $7,000 / 10.3%
2001 Grant Actual (Request) / $ ($)
2001 Revenue / $64,191

Festival Summary 2001

  • The 2001 festival, “Climate Change Solutions, Making It Our Priority” was held April 22 at Hawrelak Park
  • Programming included 37 musical performances from Peru, Chile, Cuba, Celtic music, Chinese Folksongs, as well as Canadian. (34 of 37 artists from greater Edmonton area). In addition, there was a keynote speaker, workshops, 50 displays, a food fair
  • 50-60 volunteers contributed approximately 4200 hours
  • Attendance estimated at 32,000
  • Free admission
  • Have a surplus of $62.48

Festival Plans 2002