Arts and culture play an essential role in connecting people and in driving the Canadian economy. By investing heavily in this area, the Government of Canada is contributing to the country’s recovery efforts while providing Canadians with direct access to a variety of high-quality artistic endeavours such as helping the Montreal Jazz Fest set to swing digital.
Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Member of Parliament (Laurier–Sainte-Marie), along with the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development (CED) for Quebec Regions, and Member of Parliament (Ahuntsic–Cartierville), announced support from the Government of Canada for the special digital edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, which will take place from June 27 to 30, 2020.
Canadian Heritage will provide $1,500,000 in support of the 2020 edition of the Festival, including $1,250,000 through the Canada Arts Presentation Fund. This includes an initial $1 million investment, plus an additional $250,000 allocated under the Covid-19 Emergency Support Fund. This assistance will allow the public to enjoy performances from several artists through exclusive free music content on various digital platforms. The remaining $250,000 will go toward special programming to celebrate Canadian Multiculturalism Day on June 27 as part of the Celebrate Canada program.
CED’s financial contribution to the 2020 edition will be $687,375. This support will go toward preparing the online edition of the Festival and helping it reinvent itself, especially during this pandemic, and attract more participants. The funding will also go toward promoting the Festival in Canada and around the world.
From June 27 to 30, the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal will take over a variety of digital platforms, offering unique and vibrant musical content featuring several local artists, each of whom will be recorded performing on stage in keeping with the highest quality standards that are normally associated with the Festival.
The digital edition will take over the city’s iconic L’Astral venue, which plays host to the Festival every year on the main floor of the Maison des Festivals in the heart of Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles. L’Astral will be transformed into a custom broadcasting studio for this series of unique performances. For four days, the performances will be available for free online, allowing participants to watch from the comfort of their homes.
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