“Unless a miracle happens, the FAR will disappear.” Not receiving a cent from the provincial government this year, its main funder, the Festival des arts de ruelle could well see its very last edition in Montreal this summer. Running out of solutions, its general director is launching a heartfelt plea, hoping to save her festival.
“My mourning has begun, even if, deep down, I have trouble believing it,” says Léa Philippe. She is overcome with emotion just by admitting out loud the imminent end of this project that she has been carrying out for eight years. “We will launch a crowdfunding campaign soon, but I doubt we will recover the approximately $150,000 that we have less than last year.”
Born from a citizen initiative, the FAR brings together singers, dancers, stilt walkers and acrobats each year in Montreal’s alleyways to introduce citizens to street arts, free of charge. Popularized during the pandemic, when indoor shows were put on hold, the event has expanded. It now has more than 300 artists and takes over nine neighbourhoods in the city.
To offer such programming, the FAR benefited for three years from emergency aid for artists and cultural organizations, set up during the pandemic by Quebec. In 2023, the festival received support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) through a new program helping the “presentation of works in public spaces” and for which Léa Philippe has long campaigned.
However, the FAR learned in March that it had to cancel this grant, which amounted to $80,000 last year. “For us, it’s huge! We were told that it was an artistic competition and that we didn’t win this time,” says Léa Philippe, who struggles to understand this decision. “We won awards highlighting our relevance, we were even cited as an example by the CALQ for our initiative. It makes no sense.”
The FAR cannot apply to any other CALQ program. The latter requires that presenters have a majority of ticket revenue to be eligible for assistance. “It’s impossible at the FAR, because of the geometry of the premises, we can’t close off alleys, and the goal is to democratize street arts by offering free performances,” says M.me Philip.
Running out of solutions
The FAR is also losing a $9,000 grant from Tourisme Montréal this year, due to the inability to quantify the tourism impact of its event. The envelope from the boroughs that host it has shrunk by more than $15,000. And that’s without mentioning private support, through sponsorships, which has greatly diminished.
The FAR instigator is still waiting for news on her grant application from the federal government. “Last year, we lost 66% of federal aid. This year, I expect further cuts.”
“I don’t know what to do anymore! I’ve spoken with so many ministers, so many MPs, so many district mayors and elected officials. Since March, I’ve spent dozens of hours a week doing political lobbying and representation. […] I would like to cut my salary to save the festival, but I don’t have any, I’m a volunteer.”
Street arts in danger?
The FAR is far from being the only festival in difficulty. Among the approximately 120 members of the Regroupement des festivals régionaux artistiques indépendants (REFRAIN), around thirty have been excluded from CALQ funding this year.
“Governments are closing the valves, there is no more COVID aid. With inflation, costs have increased and people are cutting back on their cultural spending. It’s a perfect storm,” analyzes Patrick Kearney, president of REFRAIN.
He is particularly concerned about street arts, as the two main festivals dedicated to this discipline – the FAR and the CHAPO International Public Entertainer Festival in Mascouche – are on the brink of collapse.
The cancellation of the Just for Laughs festival, which had reserved a large place for street arts, is also a hard blow. The ComediHa! group confirmed to Duty cut this component from the programming of its first Montreal edition — which will replace Just for Laughs — but assures that it “will come back in force next year on this subject.”
“I understand that governments have limited resources, but we’ve seen that they’re able to find funds when they really want to save a festival,” Mr. Kearney notes bitterly, referring to the millions of dollars granted in May to the ComédiHa! group to create this new comedy festival.
In an email sent to the Dutythe Ministry of Culture denies having granted “exceptional” assistance to ComediHa!, explaining that “holding a major comedy event in Montreal was important for the economy of the metropolis as well as for the Quebec comedy ecosystem.” The ministry also says it is “well aware of the difficulties encountered by the festival community.” “In a difficult budgetary context, the ministry and the CALQ team have made the necessary efforts to support festivals of all sizes and presented in all regions of Quebec with agility and attentiveness,” writes Catherine Vien-Labeaume, spokesperson for the ministry.
“I think it would take a better distribution of the pie between those who have nothing at all and those who receive help from all levels” of government, says Mr. Kearney, who fears that festivals will disappear in the coming year.