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Burlington City Council has approved another short-term loan to the Sound of Music organization to ensure that the festival remains free, with $225,000 to be provided for the largest free music festival in Canada.
The loan was approved unanimously by council members during a Committee of the Whole meeting yesterday morning (May 12) as threats of tariffs and economic uncertainty create problems for the event organizers.
One of the reasons why the Sound of Music organizers require yearly loans from the city to run the festival is due to vendors and performers attending the festival requiring payment upfront, while the festival does not make its money back until after the event is over.
“Timing is always an issue with our business,” Dave Shepherd, the Board Chair of the Sound of Music organization, said. “Money comes in after the festival, but we have to spend quite a lot of capital before the festival. We have a $125,000 grant that we have been approved for, and 60 per cent of that may be given to us six to eight weeks before the festival. We still have not seen any of that money.”
The City of Burlington handed out more than $415,000 in aid to the Sound of Music festival in 2024, including a $125,000 short-term loan, due to rising costs and lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival still owes $20,000 of that loan to the city, which they must pay back by Monday, Sept. 1.
The organization has undergone some changes to this year’s festival in order to achieve a cash-flow positive year, including improvements to the VIP area, a 50/50 draw, partnerships with local Rotary clubs, the Burlington Old TImers Hockey Club, the Burlington Lions Club and more.
“Everything we are doing this year and into next year is going to ensure that this festival remains free,” Shepherd said. “That is our mandate. We have made significant changes and I think if everyone shows up to the festival this year, you’ll see a great event and some great Canadiana as it is 100 per cent all Canadian artists this year.”
The all-Canadian lineup also extends to the festival’s sponsors. While businesses from the U.S.A. once sponsored the Sound of Music festival, the ongoing threat of tariffs have seen them back out, leaving the festival with around $35,000 less sponsor funding than in previous years, which the organizers hope to replace with local or provincial sponsors.
The Sound of Music organizers have solidified their board, which had been in turmoil in the buildup to the festival last year, and at the city’s request have produced a draft business plan for 2026 to ensure the festival will be cash-flow positive and not reliant on city loans going forward
“We need to get off the roller coaster of coming back for additional funds and get some steady footing financially,” Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said. “We’re not just another donor or sponsor to the event, and the city started it way back when it was a parade before gifting it to this nonprofit. When the organization is in a time of need, as they are now and have been before, we are always ready to answer that call.”
The Sound of Music festival will run from Thursday, June 12 to Sunday, June 15 this year and include performances from Canadian artists including Big Wreck, Basement Revolver, Hannah Sloots and Georgia Harmer, the niece of Burlington’s Sarah Harmer.
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