ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET
Juno Awards return to city in 2020
Saskatchewan musician and Juno nominee Megan Nash says it will mean a lot to local artists to have the 2020 Juno Awards back “on the home turf.”
“Saskatchewan has a really beautiful music scene,” she said. “Hopefully that Saskatchewan community vibe will come across next year … it’s a very exciting time to be a part of the Saskatchewan music scene.”
The 49th annual Juno Awards will happen in Saskatoon at Sasktel Centre in March 2020. The announcement of the award show at the Remai Modern on Thursday morning was met with applause and fanfare from city delegates and committee members who helped bring the awards to the city once again.
Nash, a Moose Jaw native who earned her first Juno nomination this year in the Contemporary Roots Album of the Year category for her album Seeker, helped kick off the announcement by playing a short set for the crowd at the Remai.
Saskatoon city council’s planning, development and community services committee unanimously endorsed a request by Tourism Saskatoon last year for $350,000 if Saskatoon won the right to host the 2020 Junos.
The Juno Awards were last in Saskatoon in 2007, when host Nelly Furtado (who was flown in to the stage on a wire harness) took home a list of awards including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year.
This time, the event promises to be bigger and better, according to Allan Reid, president and CEO of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the Juno Awards. The plan for 2020 is for a week of festivities starting on March 9 and ending with the award show on March 15.
The cost of hosting the Junos is estimated at $2.5 million, according to a report considered last year by Saskatoon city council. That figure includes a $1.7-million CARAS event fee.
When asked “Why Saskatoon?” in an interview after the announcement, Reid had a simple answer.
“Why not Saskatoon?” he said with a laugh. “This is an amazing city … there’s an incredible cultural scene here, an incredible music scene.”
Reid pointed to Saskatoon and Saskatchewan as a well of musical talent that is often represented at the Juno Awards each year, pointing to groups like Jess Moskaluke and The Deep Dark Woods as successful acts coming out of the province.
This year’s awards are no different, with a list of Saskatchewan performers making the shortlist of nominees for the awards in London, Ont. this month.
Tourism Saskatoon president Todd Brandt said the city was able to “ignore the naysayers” in 2007 who said the city was too small or the event was too expensive. He said late last year that the Junos would provide between $10 million and $12 million in economic spinoffs for the province.
In 2020, Brandt said the Juno Awards will get the whole city excited for the best music Canada has to offer.
“We’re riding on the tails of an industry that is achieving more on the international stage than ever before, and it all happens in our backyard,” he said.