Just a few pieces are missing from the puzzle that could bring the 2014 Juno Awards to Greater Victoria.
Sidney agreed to contribute $1 per resident, or around $12,000 to the push at its council meeting Monday. Sidney is the 12th of the Capital region’s 13 municipalities to promise money for the bid.
Sooke remains a missing link in the equation. Its council has offered a letter of support for the cause in principle, but hasn’t offered any financial aid.
As of Monday, the Capital Region Music Awards Society has $427,000 of the $450,000 it needs to move ahead with its bid for the awards, proposed for March or April 2014.
The province offered a grant of $50,000 to round out the $500,000 required to submit a bid to become the host city, to the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The 2014 host city is expected to be announced sometime this fall.
The B.C. government also offered an extra $1.5 million, should Victoria’s bid be successful, to host the awards.
Chris Coleman from the Capital Region Music Awards Society said the plan is to celebrate the Junos with lead-up events over the next two years, if successful, plus have 10 days to two weeks of music-themed events around the actual Juno Awards in 2014.
The majority of performances would be centred at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, with family-oriented festivities planned for Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre.
Related story