Celebration of Light’s funding woes a sign of trouble for arts and culture sector

The organizers of Vancouver’s marquee summer fireworks display say funding challenges could see the event fizzle in years to come.

The Honda Celebration of Light is set to put on its final display of the summer on Saturday, but executive producer Paul Runnals said it’s not clear if organizers will be able to bring the event back.

“We have had a reduction of government funding at both levels, both provincially and federally. We lost federal funding altogether this year, and our provincial funding has been cut by 65 per cent going into next year, so combined, those two equal a $650,000 swing in government support for the event,” Paul Runnals said.

At the same time, Runnals argues the event draws hundreds of thousands of people to the region, contributing $4 million to economic activity every year.

The Celebration of Light is not alone. Other major public events in B.C. are reporting similar conditions.

The Vancouver Pride Parade this year was forced to shorten its route as it grapples with funding challenges.

Organizers of the Mission Folk Festival say there is growing demand every year for a shrinking pool of grant and sponsorship dollars.

“For the first time this year, we were informed by a grantor that our application was excellent, that we absolutely met the criteria of the grant, but there simply was not enough funding to fund all of the eligible applications,” artistic director Michelle Demers Shaevitz told Global News.

“We are seeing across the country funding cuts, grant changes, orgs that have traditionally funded the kind of programming we do are either changing their focus or their funders are changing their focus, and it all trickles down.”

Making matters worse, the arts and culture sector is dealing with surging costs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with the inflationary pressures being felt by all businesses, they’re also on the hook for growing security costs, particularly in the wake of the Vancouver Lapu Lapu Day festival attack.

“We’ve seen cost escalations of 20 to 30 per cent coming out of COVID,” Runnals said.

“The reality is none of us have been able to make up that shortfall and these increased costs. We’re not alone… I have talked to a number of other major events that are in the same boat as us, there is a real risk we are going to see multiple major events dropping off the calendar.”

The federal government provides more than $300 million per year in arts and culture funding.

Earlier this week, Ottawa announced $1.8 million in support for Montreal’s Just for Laughs. The comedy festival went bankrupt last year, and has been mired in controversy over sexual assault allegations against its original founder.

Some in B.C.’s festival world feel like the money isn’t being doled out equally.

“The west does not get the same level of attention, in particular British Columbia,” Runnals said.

“(The Calgary) Stampede has definitely received quite a bit of money over the years, and obviously, back east there is quite a bit going around, but we seem to really struggle out here.”

Ottawa did provide $250,000 to the Festival of Lights for its 2024 season, and Runnals is hopeful the event will land back on Ottawa’s radar.

In the meantime, he said the hunt for sponsors and grant money comes at the cost of time that could be spent improving the event itself.

In the meantime, he has a message for those holding the purse strings.

“I feel very strongly about the value these events, not just ours, any of these major events bring in terms of community and giving people things to look forward to … 98 per cent of the people who attend that event attend it for free,” Runnals said.

“We’re not out there making millions of dollars, we are out there delivering an incredible experience to millions of people and generating a ton of jobs, a ton of economic impact and providing that sense of community … it boggles my mind some days we have to fight so hard to get the attention and support that we need.”

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