City of Gatineau gets $5M festival funding
Heritage Minister Joly announces contribution to Mosaïcultures event
The federal government confirmed on Wednesday that it would provide $5 million to the City of Gatineau, which will host a popular plant-sculpture festival in 2017.
It’s something the city has been waiting on for months, ever since it was announced in February 2015 that Gatineau was being considered as a potential site for Mosaïcultures, in honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017.
“It’s very good news for Gatineau, it’s an occasion for us to shine during the 2017 celebrations,” said Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin, the mayor of Gatineau.
Mélanie Joly, the minister of Canadian Heritage, was in Gatineau to attend an event at the Science and Technology Museum when a reporter asked her about the funding for the project.
Joly said she was delighted to confirm the government’s contribution of $5 million, which would ensure the event is free.
The City of Gatineau will contribute up to $2 million to the project. Additionally, Pedneaud-Jobin said he expects the government of Quebec to reveal its funding for the project “any day now.”
Originally, the city was planning for a much larger project that was estimated to bring in 800,000 visitors. Pedneaud-Jobin said the city would now have to adjust, given that ticket prices would no longer contribute toward the revenues generated by the event, but that it will still attract large crowds.
“We wanted to have one of the biggest projects in Canada,” Pedneaud-Jobin said. “It will be smaller than expected, but still good.”
Mosaïcultures is an annual event that usually takes place in Montreal, which has attracted as many as 1.2 million visitors. It features horticulture on a large scale, with massive sculptures made out of flowers and trees.
The city has reserved Jacques Cartier Park, along the Ottawa River next to the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge, as one site for the event. On the Ottawa side, Nepean Point, behind the National Gallery, is being considered as another a location for the event, which would be held from June to October 2017.
The length of the event is another advantage, Pedneaud-Jobin said, as it will allow people to plan their visits during the entire summer.
According to Pierre-Olivier Herbert, the spokesman for Joly’s office, a formal announcement of the government’s commitment to the project will come in the next couple of weeks.
It’s very good news for Gatineau, it’s an occasion for us to shine during the 2017 celebrations.