Event grant confusion blamed on concert scandal
Posted Apr 26, 2012 06:45:22 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The organizer of the Nocturne arts festival is defending her application for a non-annual event grant, saying festival officials followed the instruction of city staffers.
Nocturne: Art at Night, the Hal-Con Sci-Fi Convention, the Halifax Anthem Showcase, and the Maritime Fiddle Festival were all denied non-annual event grants this year because they’re yearly festivals.
But Rose Zack, chair of the Nocturne Art Festival Board, tells Metro that staff told her to apply for the non-annual grant, even though the festival runs yearly.
Nocturne was previously funded through HRM’s cultural activities budget before getting last year’s non-annual events grant.
Coun. Sue Uteck tells News 95.7 that in the wake of last year’s “cash-for-concerts” scandal, event funding has become strictly controlled.
“The Auditor General put the brakes on any further funding and division of categories, until he could get a work plan,” she said. “And we’re now starting to implement that work plan.”
Uteck explained that a change to create a new category for “Signature” events will help the four popular festivals that were rejected this year.
“Actually, staff is in the process of contacting the groups that were denied funding, rewriting the policy that hopefully council will approve it and we can move forward,” she said.
Uteck says the committee should return with new recommendations within 30 days.
During the same council meeting in which funding was rejected, a series of other events received a total of $276,460 in support.
Among them was the Epic Dartmouth triathlon, the Dingle Tower’s 100th Anniversary celebration, and a bid to host a Canada vs. Russia Junior Hockey Series.
