FERGUS – A $67,100 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) has kept the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games alive during the pandemic.
The organization held its annual general meeting on Nov. 16 where Gene DiMira, a representative from OTF, congratulated the Scottish Festival on its successful use of the funding.
The grant was received in April and came from the Resilient Communities Fund, a fund created by OTF to support the non-profit sector through their medium to longer-term recovery efforts and help rebuild their capacity and resiliency.
Festival organizers decided in 2020 to move the festival online and did so again in 2021, a decision that required technical expertise and know-how.
“The Resilient Communities Fund grant allowed the festival to embrace the changes required to produce the 2021 virtual Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games,” states a press release from the festival.
“The 75th Gala weekend was a great success with 27,868 views and benefited from technological, production and digital support in the delivery of safe programming and ultimately, the survival of the festival during the pandemic.”
David Radley, president of the festival’s board of directors, noted “being a volunteer-run, community-based festival, the pandemic has prevented us, the organizers, along with the many pipe bands, highland dance and heavy event athletes and performers, our patrons and the general community, from enjoying our annual, live celebration of the Scottish heritage of Fergus.
“The support of this grant has allowed us to keep our organization sound while developing the planning and expertise to be able to present an online version, keeping the fires burning while we plan for our next live event in 2022.”
Festival coordinator Elizabeth Bender confirmed in an email that the board of directors is planning for an in-person festival next year.
“The Board of Directors has announced that we are moving forward on planning our traditional live event. We are cautiously optimistic,” she wrote, adding, “At this time we do not know about a virtual component.”
But the board is asking people to mark their calendars. The next festival is Aug. 12 to 14, 2022.
