Festival organizers are sounding the alarm and calling on governments to extend the emergency financial aid that was put in place during the pandemic. Otherwise they fear not being able to follow the significant increase in wages and production costs, which could jeopardize certain events.
The health crisis may be a thing of the past, but the consequences of the pandemic are still being felt in the event industry. Labor is for example rarer today, as many workers left the cultural industry during the pandemic. Festivals are thus forced to offer better salary conditions to attract employees.
In three years, the payroll would have increased between 30 and 50% in the festivals, says one in a letter sent Monday to the three levels of government. “Current funding from the various levels of government no longer allows us to maintain the jobs needed in the future,” it reads.
Among the signatories of the missive, including The duty received a copy, are the leaders of the main festivals in the metropolis that do not revolve around Evenko, such as Nuits d’Afrique, Fantasia, Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma or Montréal Complètement cirque.
Already recipients of grants, they consider that this is not enough to deal with the post-pandemic context. They demand that the financial measures introduced by Quebec and Ottawa during the pandemic be put back in place, for a time at least.
“We are aware that this aid must follow a decreasing curve. But it is absolutely necessary that we have additional aid to mitigate the shock compared to last year, “said in an interview with the Duty David Lavoie, director of the Festival TransAmériques (FTA), who is one of the 16 signatories.
This festival, which aims to be a showcase for contemporary dance and theater, was able to receive emergency government aid until this summer. Enough to give the event enough room to organize its 17e edition, next spring, without having to rethink its ambitions. But the future then seems uncertain, if nothing is done, worries its director.
“To be honest, the special aid allowed the organizations last year to absorb their deficit or even generate a surplus. We, for example, had a deficit of $200,000 which we managed to absorb. For 2023, my survival is therefore not threatened. But I know I’m going to end up in deficit if I don’t get more aid. I don’t know how I’m going to organize 2024. It’s certain that I have to cut in my programming, cut in my team, ”he illustrates with dismay.
Caught up by inflation
The FTA hires 15 full-time people. During the festival, the number of staff climbs to 200. Impossible to replace all these people with volunteers in order to save payroll, maintains David Lavoie: “we already have volunteers. It can be used for tasks that are not specialized. But if we manage to have around sixty volunteers for a year, that’s great. It can never replace technicians. »
And it’s not just wages that have increased at breakneck speed. Production costs have also skyrocketed. “Flight tickets, accommodation, equipment rental, everything costs more. Our production costs have increased between 30 and 40%”, estimates the general manager of MUTEK, Alain Mongeau, who also signed the letter. This electronic music festival will open in August with a shortfall of $200,000.
“We found our bearings quite a bit last year with the public. But the context has completely changed. Everything went up because of inflation. Support during the pandemic was one thing, but the return to normal will not happen overnight, ”he insists.