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FYI

Ontario Place Refresh To Include Expanded Role For Live Nation

Three companies, including a Quebec outdoor recreation firm and a European spa and water park provider, have been chosen to revitalize Ontario Place after a closed-door bid process that has dragged

Ontario Place Refresh To Include Expanded Role For Live Nation

By David Farrell

Three companies, including a Quebec outdoor recreation firm and a European spa and water park provider, have been chosen to revitalize Ontario Place after a closed-door bid process that has dragged on for years, sources have told The Globe and Mail.


The Ontario government plans to give Quebec’s Écorécréo the reins for part of the 63-hectare site on Toronto’s waterfront, along with Austrian company Therme, the sources tell the newspaper. Live Nation, which runs the performance venue at Ontario Place, will have an expanded role.

Provincial Tourism Minister Lisa MacLeod, who in recent months has promised big news soon on Ontario Place, offered no comment.

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Ontario Place, opened in May 1971 and sits on three artificial islands south of Exhibition Place. The 155-acre park is operated as an agency of the Government of Ontario and through 2019 has consistently posted deficits, leading to In an announcement that year from the Government of Ontario, calling for proposals to redevelop the park with a set of restrictions that any future development must not include residential units, a casino and must not require a specific monetary outlay or subsidy by the Government of Ontario,  and must preserve the existing amount of parkland included in the Trillium Park, and preserve the existing 16K-capacity Budweiser Stage amphitheatre.

Assets affiliated with the park beyond the Budweiser Stage include the 600-person capacity IMAX and IMAX3D Cinesphere, the 5K-capacity Echo Beach concert venue, a marina with 240 boat slips, and the 7.5-acre Trillium Park that connects to the 56-kl Martin Goodman multi-use Trail.

Entire story here.

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Ed Sheeran performs onstage at iHeartRadio Z100's Jingle Ball 2025 Presented by Capital One held at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2025 in New York, New York.
John Nacion/Billboard

Ed Sheeran performs onstage at iHeartRadio Z100's Jingle Ball 2025 Presented by Capital One held at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 2025 in New York, New York.

Music News

Ed Sheeran Addresses Controversy at First Show Since Openers, Backing Band Dropped Off Tour, Calls It ‘The Best Show of My Life’

Before his show in Philadelphia, Sheeran read a statement acknowledging the issue of Israel and Palestine, but still tried to keep things neutral.

Ed Sheeran needed to address the situation before he could start playing guitar. It wasn’t how he wanted to start his show, and he’s made it abundantly clear that the last thing he wants around him is controversy or, in his words, to be an “activist musician.”

But here he was, at the first show after his opener and friend Macklemore was kicked off the tour, following pressure by a group of venue owners led by Robert Kraft who took issue with Macklemore’s statement of support toward Palestine. That led to the rest of the tour’s openers and even Sheeran’s backing band for the tour dropping off the tour in solidarity with Macklemore — all of which became a huge news story and PR nightmare for the usually very un-controversial Sheeran. And though he had already made one highly scrutinized statement online while the news story was at its most potent, Sheeran felt the need to address the crowd at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night (Sept. 19) in person, before the show really started.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.

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