Ottawa Festivals
Ottawa Festivals, a not-for-profit member-based organization, is the Festival Network Office located in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. Established in 1996, the network consists of 53 festivals in the Ottawa region. History. In the summer of 1994, four new festivals evolved with the objective of showcasing different cultures, arts, and entertainment to the local community. Distinct, yet sharing a common objective, these organizations, namely, Ottawa Bluesfest, CKCU Ottawa Folk Festival, Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, and Fete Caribe, saw a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences and to lend support in each other’s development and growth . In the fall of 1994, a meeting was called by the president of Ottawa Tourism Commission Authority (OTCA) in response to many public inquiries relating to these new festivals. The goal was to create a communication flow between the festivals and OTCA. During this meeting, there was a consensus that most of the festivals had many common interests and that there was a need to form some ongoing group that could not only coordinate tourism information, but also share ideas to improve their individual events. After many meetings and brainstorming sessions, the Ottawa Festival Network was formed with an initial  board which included prominent personalities like Mark Monahan (Ottawa Bluesfest), Michel Gauthier (Canadian Tulip Festival), Gene Swimmer (Ottawa Folk Festival) and Christine Broughton (OTCA). It was from this initial group that the network flourished and eventually, was successful in liaising with several organizations, such as, Canadian Tourism Commission, City of Ottawa, and Human Resource Development Canada, to name a few. In April, 1996 the Ottawa Festival Network became an incorporated entity with a group of diverse not-for-profit member festivals representing different cultures, arts, and entertainment. April 2006 brought a landmark when the Ottawa Festival Network celebrated its 10th  Anniversary with the “Launch of the Festival Season”. This event brought celebrated Ottawa’s multi-million dollar festival industry and the decade-long involvement of the Ottawa Festival Network in showcasing and promoting art, culture and entertainment in Canada’s National Capital Region. This event presented the unveiling of the new official name (Ottawa Festivals d’Ottawa), the logo, the 10th anniversary brochure, and the new and revised official Web site. The launch highlighted the growth of the festival industry over the past decade and how it has contributed to the local tourism and economy. The predecessor to ‘Ottawa Festivals’ was  the National Capital Region Festival Network in 1986. This was the first initiative by festivals to work together. At that time, the City of Ottawa did not formally recognize festivals as a means of economic development; with the potential to stimulate more tourism. The organizers consisted of Peter Harris Festival of the Arts, Elizabeth Bhil Ottawa Jazz Festival, Pierre de Blois Festival Franco-Ontarien, Greg Larsen Ottawa Tulip Festival and Michel Gauthier Winterlude. The group was responsible for convincing municipal politicians that festivals should be recognized as more than local community recreation. In conjunction with staff at the Culture Division  of the City of Ottawa, these ‘festival pioneers’ developed categories for events by establishing different levels of criteria. As a result, a new festival program was created. Festivals were now able to apply for annual funding in the years to come. References. 2. http://www.ottawafestivals.ca/ottawa-411/ 3. http://www.ottawafestivals.ca/ottawa-411/other-things-to-do/