City coming to financial aid of festivals with $2M grant program

The City of Toronto is coming to the financial aid of festivals and special events that have struggled due to rising operating costs.

Mayor Olivia Chow announced that $2 million will be available through the Special Events Stabilization Initiative (SESI). This one-year pilot grant program will give festival organizers access to funds to help them with rising operating costs such as security, crowd management, insurance and health and safety.

“Cultural festivals are part of what makes Toronto an incredible place to live and a destination of choice for tourists around the world,” said Chow who made the announcement during a visit to the Festival of South Asia on Saturday.

“With this funding announcement, we’re continuing to support special event organizers facing financial hardships to ensure they can continue to provide the experiences and events that Torontonians know and love.”

The City says it will accept applications for funding from August 19 through to September 30 and it expects to support approximately 40 special event organizers. 

The funding announcement is potentially good news for the future of Taste of the Danforth. The GreekTown staple was cancelled for 2024 with organizers citing increased costs to local businesses.

Last November the GreekTown on the Danforth BIA said it would have required a 20 per cent increase in the property tax levy of all businesses in order to keep the festival going after losing more than $250,000 in 2023. At the time, organizers cited increasing costs for things such as policing and other “ancillary costs.”