Event and festival funding available from MRC Pontiac

MRC Pontiac is making funds available to organizers of regional events and festival to help cover costs.
Launched in its current form in 2022, the funding model was designed to assist organizers in arranging events and festivals that are “distinguished by the high profile they bring to the Pontiac and by the significant social and economic benefits they generate, or by the successful expansion of an existing event or festival.”
Eligible events and festivals are broken into three categories by the MRC - local, expanding tourism, and structuring tourism categories - with each having specific requirements for application.
Applicants can request a maximum of $500 for local events or festivals with a total reserve of $2,000 available, can request a maximum of $2,000 for expanding tourism events or festivals with a total reserve of $8,000 available, and can request a maximum of $5,000 for structuring tourism events or festivals with a total reserve of $10,000 available.
Eligible beneficiaries include municipal organizations, band councils of Aboriginal communities, cooperatives, non-profit organizations and schools and school service centres represented within the MRC Pontiac territory.
When asked how, with funding amounts capped at specific amounts, decisions on what projects will receive funding will be made, MRC Pontiac Communications Officer Francis Beausoleil said that economic development officers apply a pre-determined analyst grid to make funding decisions.
“The economic Development department follows an analyst grid to determine eligibility of the proposed event,” wrote Beausoleil in an email to THE EQUITY. “The specific amount is requested by the promoter and outlined in the projected budget provided to the MRC.”
“For now, the maximum in each category is sufficient to fund the requests received,” he added.
Evaluation Criteria for funding applications is listed as total number of participants/admissions, potential for provincial, national and international tourists, economic impact for the Pontiac, visibility for the Pontiac region in a market outside the region, significant evidence that the promoter is committed to self-financing efforts to ensure the event’s longevity for the years to come.
Deadline for application is November 14 for events that will take place between January 1 to May 31, 2024.
An additional deadline date for events scheduled to take place after this timeframe will be posted at a later time.
More information on eligibility and the application process can be found on the MRC Pontiac website.

Connor Lalande
Pontiac Oct. 4, 2023