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FYI

Highlights From Festivals & Events Ontario Survey

Festivals and Events Ontario has released results from a March 30-April 5 pandemic impact

Highlights From Festivals &  Events Ontario Survey

By FYI Staff

Festivals and Events Ontario has released results from a March 30-April 5 pandemic impact survey gleaned from 396 festival and event organizers across the province.


The broad findings show that the majority have cancelled events this year but so far 99 of 396 festivals surveyed say they have postponed rather than cancelled and 53 have modified to a digital event.

With 90% of respondents indicating their festivals and events were originally scheduled to occur between April 1 and September 30, current conditions suggest that the possibility of recovering the altered dates, should public health conditions allow in 2020, appears limited.

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In 2019, estimated attendance at festivals and events in the survey accounted for about 9.7M attendees across 133 Ontario communities, or roughly 73-percent of the provincial population.

Of those surveyed the majority operates with budgets under $10K as the following diagram shows.

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Charlotte Day Wilson
Jessica Foley
Charlotte Day Wilson
Concerts

CNE 2026 Bell SOUNDSTAGE Lineup: Charlotte Day Wilson, JoJo, Finger Eleven and More

As part of its partnership with NXNE and a renewed focus on live music, CNE will also welcome a special soon-to-be revealed global headliner presented by Billboard Canada on Aug. 28.

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is embracing its musical roots with a high-profile lineup for 2026.

The beloved long-running fair, baptized The Ex by Torontonians, has unveiled the full list of artists who will be headlining the newly-named Bell SOUNDSTAGE at the Bandshell to celebrate the event's 147th edition. Canadian stars like Charlotte Day Wilson and Finger Eleven as well as international pop star JoJo have been added to this year's programming, which reflects a diverse mix of renowned names and rising stars across a multitude of genres including pop, hip-hop, Punjabi music and soca, among others. They join previously announced acts like Lights, Lupe Fiasco, Shaggy and more.

This year, the exhibition is partnering with Toronto music festival NXNE, to modernize its musical programming with chart-topping artists and newer acts, and revamping the Bandshell as the Bell SOUNDSTAGE. “Music is such a massive part of who we are,” Mark Holland, CEO of the CNE, told Billboard Canada in April during his Executive of the Week interview. "Connecting everybody to that is a democratic mission that we are really invested in."

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