Major Festivals Fund

The City of Ottawa and Ottawa Tourism, have launched a two-year pilot program – the Major Festivals Fund – to increase financial support to Ottawa’s larger, tourism-generating festivals. This Fund will provide a total of $1 million annually to invest in the city’s most significant economy-impacting events.

This fund is open to applicants who meet the criteria of a Major Festival or Event and drive overnight visitation and national visibility for the Ottawa region.

Major Festivals Fund Applicant Guide (.pdf)

Major Festivals Fund phase 1 self-assessment checklist

Instructions: Please complete and submit the following Major Festivals Fund self-evaluation checklist by no later than January 7, 2026.

Organization Details

Organization Legal Name

Organization Common Name (if different from above)

Contact Person Details

This will be the primary point of contact for the Major Festivals Fund. All communications will be sent directly to this individual.

Name

Job Title

Email Address

Work Phone Number

Mobile Phone Number

Festival/Event Details

Festival/Event Start Date

(DD/MM/YYYY)

Festival/Event End Date

(DD/MM/YYYY)

Festival/Event Location Site

My festival/event meets all of the following criteria to meet the status of Major Festival and Event:

Operating Budget:

My festival/event has a total annual budget of $1 million, with $750,000 or more of my operating budget in earned cash revenues

Organizational Capacity and Financial Health:

My organization has significant experience producing major large-scale events in Ottawa (i.e. 5 years).

My organization does not have a debt ratio greater than 0.1.

My organization can demonstrate that it has a strong revenue stream, with less than 50% of my operating budget reliant on government and/or grant funding.

Economic Impact:

My festival/event has a proven ability to generate significant economic impact and is prepared to work with Ottawa Tourism’s Business Intelligence team to validate my economic impact data.

I can provide details on my visitor base pulled from collected data which includes number of attendees, postal code data, room nights generated, and ticket price (for ticketed festivals). OR I can provide details on my visitor base pulled from collected data which includes cell phone data from a trusted data provider (Environics or similar), dwell time, geofenced location data to the festival site only (not including surrounding unclosed roadways), and unique versus repeat visitation data (for non-ticketed festivals).

Attendee/Audience Profile:

My festival/event sees a significant proportion of out of town attendees (approximately 15% or more) coming from outside the National Capital Region (i.e. from outside a radial limit of 100 kilometres).

My festival/event attendee count and demographics are measurable/quantifiable through ticketing information, cell phone data capture (including dwell time), or on-site intercept surveying results.

Marketing and Media Strategy:

My festival/event has a prominent marketing strategy designed to attract significant media exposure from across Canada and/or internationally.

My festival/event allocates a significant portion of its marketing budget to external media buys, and I can provide the breakdown of local advertising versus external advertising buys as required.

My festival/event leverages tourism industry partnerships (such as hotel partners or transportation partners) and sponsors to expand promotional reach.

Supporting Documentation:

I confirm that I have the following documentation to support my above claims (should I be selected to proceed to Phase 2):

A copy of the organization’s articles of incorporation
Proof of insurance (with a minimum liability insurance of $5 million)
Audited financial statements for the past two (2) years and a copy of the most recent interim financial statements (ex. balance sheet)
Data to support the percentage of visitors (outside 100km radial limit) versus local attendees (inside 100km radial limit) to my Festival/Event
A copy last year’s media plan for the Festival/Event that provides evidence of the external media buys (i.e. local vs. out-of-town reach)
A copy of partnership and sponsorship agreement(s), as available

All the information I have stated above is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.