ELORA – In August 2021, the Elora Festival received a $46,000 Community Building Fund – Operating grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF).
This funding allowed the festival to hire a marketing manager, a grant writer, and production manager, creating additional capacity on the festival team, which resulted in greater community engagement, enhanced programming, and a successful return to in-person performances in summer 2022.
“We want to express our sincere thanks to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for supporting the Elora Festival,” said Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott.
“The Elora Festival is one of the most important annual cultural events in the province, and we are also grateful to the performers, staff and volunteers who make it possible.”
Having produced two re-imagined festivals online in 2020 and 2021, the Elora Festival returned to the village of Elora from July 8 to 24, 2022 with over 30 concerts in Gambrel Barn, St. John’s Elora, and other venues in Fergus and Elora.
Audience members and volunteers alike were keen to return to live performances to hear The Elora Singers and a wide array of international guest artists, including Canadian Brass, Sarah Slean, and the Gesualdo Six from the United Kingdom, states a Dec. 5 press release from festival organizers.
Planning for the Elora Festival normally happens a year or two in advance, so returning to a live festival after such a long absence presented unique challenges and opportunities.
“Although we were not at all silent during the pandemic, we were operating with a very small team and we had to recreate our operating model for our first live festival in three years,” explains executive director Laura Adlers.
“You don’t realize how much you missed live music until you are sitting in Gambrel Barn hearing the Bach B Minor Mass featuring The Elora Singers, special guest soloists and full orchestra! It was an incredible feeling to be back again and we are so grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for its immeasurable support.”
The festival’s mandate is to present world-class vocal/choral and chamber music in the vibrant and artistic rural village of Elora.
The festival’s vision is to be a performing arts festival that gives the gift of inspiration, hope and joy directly to individuals and communities through immersive and meaningful experiences born of collaborative endeavour.
The festival aims to grow its audience base, which includes free and accessible performances, expand its education and outreach programming, and appeal to a wider demographic through targeted music programming and artist selection. For more information, please visit: elorafestival.ca
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario. As an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, last year, OTF invested nearly $209M into 2,042 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund.
Since 2020, OTF has supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
