Italian Day Grant Support
Motion 14 · Standing Committee of Council on City Finance and Services, May 20, 2026
Summary
- One-time extraordinary grant of up to $60,000 to the Italian Day Festival Society to cover a funding shortfall for Italian Day on the Drive (June 14, 2026).
- Organizers cited a combination of factors: loss of street banner revenue due to FIFA commercial arrangements, disappearance of provincial BCFFE grant funding, a provincial shift to tourism-focused grants, and increased costs for security, traffic management, and equipment.
- Speakers noted the festival draws hundreds of thousands of attendees, is free to the public, and supports Commercial Drive businesses and tourism.
- Councillor Orr noted a pattern of council stepping in with emergency festival funding and called for a broader policy conversation about whether FIFA impacts are being addressed equitably across all festivals.
- Mayor Sim declared a conflict of interest (bagel shop on Commercial Drive) and did not vote.
Vote
Public comments
Read all 4 statements
Transcript
38 segments
Thanks, everyone. That completes motion one on the agenda. The next motion is motion two, supporting Italian Day on the Drive, a commercial drive in 2026. It is moved and introduced by Councillor Domenato. Before we begin, if anyone believes they have a conflict of interest, now is the time to declare it. Does anyone have a conflict of interest to disclose?
Seeing none, Councillor... Oh, Mayor Sim.
Yeah, just in an abundance of caution, we do have a little bagel shop on Commercial Drive, and so I will be declaring a conflict in an abundance of caution.
Okay, noted. Thanks, Mayor. All right, so, Councillor Domenato, you have two minutes to introduce your motion.
Thank you. Thanks, Chair. As many know, Italian Day on the Drive is one of Vancouver's most beloved cultural festivals, bringing tens of thousands of people together to celebrate heritage, support small businesses, and energize one of our most vibrant neighborhoods. But this year is looking different. With major international events, including FIFA-related activities, the sponsorship landscape has tightened significantly. Long-standing community festivals like Italian Day on the Drive are losing key revenue sources and facing new competitive funding. As a result, organizers are now facing a shortfall of roughly $60,000, putting the scale and quality of this important event at risk. This motion is a targeted one-time response. It proposes an extraordinary grant of up to $60,000 to help ensure Italian Day on the Drive can proceed at the standard Vancouver residents expect. This aligns with the city's long history of supporting festivals that build community, drive local economic activity, and foster civic pride. It also clearly defines it as a one-time measure tied to unique circumstances with appropriate accountability built in. Even in a year when Vancouver is on the global stage, we must continue to support the local traditions that define our city. Italian Day on the Drive is one of those traditions I respectfully ask for council support.
Second. Thanks, Councillor. Seconded by Councillor Claassen. We will now hear from the rightist speaker for this motion. Public speakers will state whether they are in support or in opposition of these recommendations and may only speak once. I will also ask speakers if they are residents of Vancouver, if it is not noted on the speakers' list. Our first rightist speaker is Melissa DeGenova. Hi, Melissa.
Thank you very much. I am in support, and I'm a proud resident of Vancouver. Hello, mayor and council. Well, the mayor is not here, but you all know me. My name is Melissa DiGenova, and I'm the president of the Italian Day Festival Society. I'm here today on behalf of our board in support of Councillor Dominato's motion for this urgent one-time funding request for $60,000. And I want to sincerely thank Councillor Dominato for bringing the motion forward. Italian Day is the largest event during Italian Heritage Month and a celebration of the people, culture, businesses, and community that helped to build the city. It showcases Vancouver's Little Italy, something I was proud to bring forward with the help of Randy Rinaldo, who's here also for official recognition when I served as a Vancouver City Councillor. For generations, Commercial Drive has been a place where immigrant families built businesses, raised children, and created community. Italian Day honors that legacy and welcomes hundreds of thousands of people each year. In a city that has become increasingly expensive, free, family-friendly, cultural events like this matter more than ever. And this festival supports local businesses and tourism. Italian Day isn't the only festival facing extraordinary pressures, as you know, from your commitment to one-time funding for Car Free Days. The financial climate has made sponsorship more difficult, with festival costs continuing to rise. Italian Day was not recommended for a city cultural grant this year, a loss of approximately $10,000 in funding we long received. Two years ago, the province canceled the grant program that supported cultural festivals and shifted towards a tourism-focused model. Since then, Italian Day has not received provincial funding. FIFA-related pressures are also creating operational impacts for festivals across the city. We do support FIFA. I want to be very clear about that. However, these impacts are our reality. For example, capacity pressures affect our ability to secure traffic authority personnel at lower rates, and equipment costs have skyrocketed due to supply and demand. Like many festival organizations and organizations, we are finding current funding models increasingly difficult to sustain. Costs continue to rise while the FestShare grant remains unchanged in the same amount each year. Italian Day must move forward. We have made commitments to the community, local merchants, sponsors, and attendees. However, without your support, there's a real risk that the festival will need to be significantly scaled back. despite overwhelming public support and attendance. On behalf of our board sponsors and those who look forward to attending Italian Day every year, thank you for your consideration. I hope this is one motion that you will all unanimously support, and we look forward to welcoming you all to Commercial Drive on June 14th for Italian Day on the Drive, where we invite you all to be Italian, at least for the day.
Thanks, Melissa. Okay, speaker number two is Randy Renato.
My name is Randy Rinaldo, and I am the president of Il Centro Italian Cultural Center. I'm here today in support of Counselor Lisa Dominato's motion to provide one-time extraordinary support for Italian Day on the Drive. For decades, many of us in the Italian-Canadian community worked hard to preserve and celebrate Little Italy on Commercial Drive. I personally spent years advocating for the recognition and promotion of Little Italy on Commercial Drive to celebrate the culture and heritage of our community. We wanted future generations to understand the contributions Italian Canadians made to this city and to create a place where culture, food, family, music, and community could continue to thrive and to promote Vancouver as a fun city. Something we got to work hard on. We've done very well in the last few years, but we're going to keep pushing on that. Italian Day has become one of the most visible and successful expressions of that vision. Today, it is one of Vancouver's largest cultural festivals. It also showcases Vancouver as a vibrant, welcoming, multicultural city. What is important for Council to understand is that the financial challenges facing Italian Day this year are unique and outside of the organization's control. We appreciate the consideration for a one-time grant, but as Melissa has said, to keep this festival alive, we need to consider how we can work together to sustaining rising costs. And let me tell you, every single year, the water is right here, and we always think maybe this is our last year. We may not be able to go the next year because it is getting up there. This is not simply funding in an event. It is supporting culture, tourism, small business, and community connection in Vancouver. Events like this matter to our city. They bring life to our streets, support local economies, and strengthen community during a time when many organizations are struggling with rising costs. I want to thank Councillor Domenato for bringing this motion forward for consideration. On behalf of Villecentro and many members of the Italian-Canadian community, I respectfully ask Council's support.
Thank you.
Thank you, Randy.
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for having us here. My name is Benalla Gaudio, and I'm the executive director for Italian Day on the Drive. And I thank you for this opportunity to come and speak today in support of the motion Councillor Lisa Dominato has put forth for the extraordinary grant of $60,000 to assist with Italian Day's 2026 shortfall. I have been with the Italian Day Festival Society since 2011 and have seen costs rise from an initial $80,000 cost to now close to $600,000, which would be even higher if it wasn't for the additional in-kind support from our partners and sponsors. Close to 60% of our expenses incurred represent base costs just to shut down the street and ensure public safety, along with sanitation, insurance, traffic management, security, production, and equipment. Since we returned in 2023, after three years of not having the 14-block festival due to the pandemic, costs have almost tripled in many cases. As an example, in 2019, before Festshare was to come into effect in 2020, our gross costs on city services provided for the festival were just under $40,000. In 2023, when the festival returned and the FestShare grant was applied for the first time, the gross costs were close to $100,000, almost triple what was in 2019. Today, gross costs before applying FestShare grant are closer to $140,000 and rising each year. This is just one example demonstrating the degree of cost increases we face, which is becoming impossible to maintain. The $75,000 FestShare grant, although helpful, today remains what it was when it first passed and in a few short years does not consider the dramatic rise in costs leaving us and many festivals at risk. This is something Mayor and Council should consider for future as a longer term solution to help resolve the variance between what costs were when FestShare was first passed and what they are now. A challenging economic climate has also seen sponsor revenue streams shrink, resulting in lower funding amounts and more challenges to obtain sponsorships. In addition, valuable grants have disappeared or have become virtually impossible to obtain because of the competitive nature for these grants. It has been two years since we received any provincial funding, which in 2023 and 2024 amounted to $100,000 combined from the BCFFE grant. The grant was discontinued in 2025 and replaced with a DEP program, which has more of a tourism focus. This year has been an exceptionally difficult year. Although we are one of the only festivals approved by FIFA to move forward with the event during the game window, the competitive nature of obtaining funds from sponsors with the World Cup in play has had us drop in historic funding significantly. Add to that the removal of one of the key benefits which draws sponsors to support, this being the street banners on the drive announcing the festival and its sponsors, now have been taken by FIFA. Further opportunities were lost to obtain funding. We have worked hard to make up the difference in revenue loss as well as additional revenue needed to address anticipated cost increases, but there remains a $60,000... Rene, I'm sorry if that's your time.
Okay.
Yeah. I just wanted to say Italian Day is one of the most anticipated festivals of the year, embracing all ages and cultures together in a unifying and uplifting way. Sorry, that's your time.
We have to be fair to everyone. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, so speaker number four is Nathan Davidovich.
Hello, Chair and members. Yes, I'm on the phone. Yeah, please go ahead, Nathan. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Yeah. Thank you, Chair and members of the committee. Yeah, my name is Nathan Davinovich, and I support the Italian Days and all the other festivals in the city, and I hope that the BC government will fund them properly. The problem arise is when the streets are closed and people are left stranded in their home, like they are prisoners in their own home. They bought the monthly pass to use transit, but then there is no transit for at least 12 hours on commercial drive. If you go on Beach Avenue, I don't know how many days throughout the summer. There is no bus service. So why would somebody buy a pass and he can't use it? Just said, yeah, you're leaving seniors and disabled people, prisoners in their own home. They can't go out anywhere because there's no bus service. Now, there is a solution. And other cities have done that. And Hansling doesn't want to do it, which is the golf cart. 12-passenger golf cart that can fit in. Chair, can you remind the speaker to stay on topic?
Sorry to interrupt. I just know the speaker's talking about 12-passenger golf carts and we're debating Italian days.
Yeah, Nathan, we're talking about Italian Day on the drive, so please focus on your... Well, that's what I'm calling about.
The people around commercial drive on Italian Day are going, left prisoners on their own home because TransLink does not want to provide alternate service to the bus service they are taking away. And it's up to council to request TransLink to provide alternate service. And, you know, it's just, I mean, it's a long way for people to walk, you know, and either to cloud drive or on a nine-way street, it's even farther away from commercial drive. It's almost one kilometer because the transit doesn't want to put a bus service on Victoria Drive. So we have all kinds of challenges, and I don't know what... You said council can't really do anything, but I can recommend things to TransLink and ask the city manager to discuss better ways to serve the public without street closures. Thank you very much for your help. All right. Thanks, Nathan.
Thanks, everyone, for speaking to council. This is the end of our speaker's list. Committee members, is there any discussion? I saw Councillor Frye.
Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Brunella and Randy and Melissa. Melissa, thank you so much for that acknowledgement. It's one day where everybody gets to be Italian or feel Italian. So when a celebration belongs to everybody, the value comes back to everybody. And Italian days on the drive. is a fantastic celebration. I know we all enjoy it. I know you all enjoy it. And I'm glad to, I'm very grateful for Councillor Dominato stepping forward and identifying that there was this serious funding gap and that we needed to step in, and I'm very supportive of this. Grazie, grazie mille.
Thanks, Councillor Fry. Councillor Claassen.
Thanks very much. Thanks, Melissa, Randy, and Brunella for coming in. and speaking so passionately on what is truly one of the best festivals the city has to offer. I'm very happy to support this and really take to heart the comments from Ronella regarding some of the kind of growing challenges. You know, we've seen the decline in corporate sponsorships. We know that's partly economically related. We know that inflation has cut into the costs of everything from security to fencing to, to all sorts of materials to host these events. you know, over the months and in, in time to come, I think that's a conversation we'll have to continue to have because, uh, events like these are so incredibly important to our, uh, our, our vibrancy as a city. And, uh, truly it is one of the funnest events of the, of, of the year. And, uh, I know that to the last time I was there, I remarked on how many times, um, that the sun came out for Italian day, never ever is raining. So I'm going to hold you to that. So you'll see you on, uh, June 13th and, uh, We'll have a great time. 14th. 14th. So Sunday the 14th. Yeah.
Look forward to it. Thanks very much. Thanks. Counselor Orr. Yeah, thanks. Might not be as fun as Counselor Fry, but I do have some questions just around, you know, the sort of situation we kind of keep finding ourselves in with, you know, having to come up with these emergency funds, you know. $60,000 for the Lunar New Year's Gala, $30,000 for Car Free Day, $2 million for fireworks, $45,000 for Vaisakhi Day, $300,000 for the FIFA activation on Ground Bull, and now $60,000. It's just frustrating that we keep kind of finding ourselves here.
I'm super happy to support, and I had a...
Really great time last year. It was awesome. But just a question through the chair to the staff. Do we know of any other community festivals or cultural organizations that have indicated they're facing kind of similar financial pressures related specifically to kind of FIFA sponsorship and the banners and things like that?
Sandra Singh, Deputy City Manager. It's possible that we've heard that, but I don't have that information with me now. I'd have to consult with staff. I have not heard anything.
You haven't heard anything. Okay. Was there any proactive sort of mitigation plan from the city to offset these impacts once FIFA-related commercial arrangements kind of came clear? I know you've been working on a lot of stuff. I know the team.
I can't speak right now to the commercial arrangements, but what I can say is that there has been extensive effort from the special events team to enable the full range of community events to happen this year. So they've been working really hard on that.
Yeah, for sure. And then can you remind just why the cultural grant wasn't awarded this year? I can't remember. I couldn't find out what the reason was why it was denied for Italian days.
I think it was just a matter of the volume of applications relative to the application process is my record.
Okay. Thanks. Yeah. I just think – sorry to be a wet blanket on you. I mean, I do support the motion. I just think in terms of sort of council kind of continually stepping in to offset impacts, especially around impacts with FIFA, I think we need to understand if that – is also going to apply equitably to other festivals and cultural groups and other neighborhood events. So I think there's definitely a larger policy conversation here around ensuring mega events don't come at the expense of sort of a cultural ecosystem that already exists in Vancouver year-round. Overall, I'm supportive of helping important community festivals, but I do think we should look at those broader implications going forward and whether any other additional groups may require support as a result of FIFA-related impacts. Thanks.
Thanks, Councillor. Okay, so I'm going to again pass the chair to Vice Chair Classen so I can provide some remarks. Okay, thanks. All right, yeah, so also want to thank Randy, Melissa, and Brunella for coming here supporting and speaking for this motion. Especially thanks, Councillor Domenato, for bringing forward this motion. I think as our mayor mentioned many times, and I 100% agree, the Italian-Canadian community in our city helped build our city, helped build our Vancouver. We are so proud of celebrating Italian Heritage Month every year as an official celebration at the city of Vancouver. And also I thank former city Councillor Melissa DiGenova for being an outspoken advocate for the Italian-Canadian community and for leading that recognition every year. So for generations, Italian-Canadians have been contributing to our rich cultural heritage and have made a very remarkable contribution to our cultural fabric in our city. And when you think about Little Italy in Vancouver, you think about the commercial drive. And I remember when I was an ESL student, our ESL teacher, the first place she took us is Italian Drive to learn about Little Italy. So countless families have stories of their kids growing up, visiting their grandparents and cousins, kicking their first soccer ball, starting their first business, all within the blocks of this neighborhood. Italian Day on the Drive is cherished annually. It's an annual tradition that we all celebrate that heritage and history. This council is committed to supporting our cultural community and landmarks events that are the foundation of what makes our Vancouver a vibrant and inclusive city. Italian Day on the Drive celebrates one of Vancouver's largest community and is featured in the summer event on the event calendar every year. It brings thousands of our most historic and iconic streets in the city. And it's a free event that everyone from all generations can find something to enjoy. So we all know, unfortunately, due to the extraordinary circumstances of this year's World Cup, the festival has a funding gap due to the restriction of the street banner revenue. So I think the city of Vancouver, we need to step up. So this year, we are stepping up for this grant and to supporting this event, to supporting our vibrant community. So I can't wait to be at Italian Day on the Drive this year. I really want to thank all the speakers and residents to support this amazing event. So strongly support this motion. Okay, so I'm going to take the chair back from Councillor Clausen and then Councillor Meissner.
Thanks, I'll be brief. I'm really thankful for Councillor Domenato for bringing this motion forward. and as well for former Councillor Melissa de Genova and your advocacy for your community, as well as the organisers of the festival. It's one of my favourite summer festivals in Vancouver. I think to Councillor Orr's point, yes, I think that there are unique challenges for festivals across our city this year, and we are in this situation with several festivals, so certainly council needs to take a fresh look, I think, at fest share and also support for festivals across the city. The higher costs that we're seeing, many of which are related to traffic management, a pullback on provincial supports for festivals, which is really unfortunate. You know, this festival is a free, family-friendly event in the heart of Commercial Drive. It's just a great event for Vancouverites to come out to for food, for culture, supports local businesses, tourism, so... We can't risk losing amazing festivals like this in Vancouver. They're part of what makes living in Vancouver amazing. So I'm in full support of this extraordinary funding for this very, very worthwhile festival. Thanks.
Thank you, Chair, and I'll just close on the motion at this time. And just to reflect a couple things, as a fellow Italian-Canadian, I was incredibly honoured to bring this motion forward. My great-grandparents settled on Knight Street in East Vancouver, like many Italian-Canadians, and started their roots in East Vancouver around Commercial Drive. But I do want to reflect a couple of things this afternoon. One, I want to thank Melissa DiGenova for her leadership both in this chamber and outside this chamber in representing the Italian-Canadian community. And I know Councillor Zhou reflected that in his remarks, but I think... It should be reflected again. I also want to acknowledge the leadership of Randy and Brunella around supporting not only the Italian Canadian community, but Italian Day on the Drive. This has been and continues to be an incredibly successful event in the city. And I did want to touch on the subject of, you know, there were questions about why this shortfall, what are some of the challenges in Brunella. You detailed a lot of the growing and increasing costs. But I also think it's not just about FIFA. We are seeing a changing economic landscape where other levels of government are pulling back on funding and grant programs. We're also seeing the corporate world changing how they finance and sponsor events. And so there is a broader, more global conversation happening there. But I do want to end on many of my colleagues have touched on how much they enjoy coming to Italian Day on the Drive and how it brings out thousands of people every year. But what I want to touch on is that in this day and age, we are seeing so much division. And what we need more and more of in the city, Randy, you talked about a fun city, is we need events like Italian Day on the Drive that bring people together in celebration of a whole range of diverse backgrounds that is safe, is fun, and as Melissa, you noted, is free for families and others. And so I just wanted to reinforce that point because it's much more than a street festival and a cultural festival. It is about bringing community together, and that's what you do year after year. And so I'm incredibly honored to support the motion, bring it forward and support you today.
Statement Watch
Thank you very much. I am in support, and I'm a proud resident of Vancouver. Hello, mayor and council. Well, the mayor is not here, but you all know me. My name is Melissa DiGenova, and I'm the president of the Italian Day Festival Society. I'm here today on behalf of our board in support of Councillor Dominato's motion for this urgent one-time funding request for $60,000. And I want to sincerely thank Councillor Dominato for bringing the motion forward. Italian Day is the largest event during Italian Heritage Month and a celebration of the people, culture, businesses, and community that helped to build the city. It showcases Vancouver's Little Italy, something I was proud to bring forward with the help of Randy Rinaldo, who's here also for official recognition when I served as a Vancouver City Councillor. For generations, Commercial Drive has been a place where immigrant families built businesses, raised children, and created community. Italian Day honors that legacy and welcomes hundreds of thousands of people each year. In a city that has become increasingly expensive, free, family-friendly, cultural events like this matter more than ever. And this festival supports local businesses and tourism. Italian Day isn't the only festival facing extraordinary pressures, as you know, from your commitment to one-time funding for Car Free Days. The financial climate has made sponsorship more difficult, with festival costs continuing to rise. Italian Day was not recommended for a city cultural grant this year, a loss of approximately $10,000 in funding we long received. Two years ago, the province canceled the grant program that supported cultural festivals and shifted towards a tourism-focused model. Since then, Italian Day has not received provincial funding. FIFA-related pressures are also creating operational impacts for festivals across the city. We do support FIFA. I want to be very clear about that. However, these impacts are our reality. For example, capacity pressures affect our ability to secure traffic authority personnel at lower rates, and equipment costs have skyrocketed due to supply and demand. Like many festival organizations and organizations, we are finding current funding models increasingly difficult to sustain. Costs continue to rise while the FestShare grant remains unchanged in the same amount each year. Italian Day must move forward. We have made commitments to the community, local merchants, sponsors, and attendees. However, without your support, there's a real risk that the festival will need to be significantly scaled back. despite overwhelming public support and attendance. On behalf of our board sponsors and those who look forward to attending Italian Day every year, thank you for your consideration. I hope this is one motion that you will all unanimously support, and we look forward to welcoming you all to Commercial Drive on June 14th for Italian Day on the Drive, where we invite you all to be Italian, at least for the day.
Statement Watch
All right. Counsel, buongiorno.
My name is Randy Rinaldo, and I am the president of Il Centro Italian Cultural Center. I'm here today in support of Counselor Lisa Dominato's motion to provide one-time extraordinary support for Italian Day on the Drive. For decades, many of us in the Italian-Canadian community worked hard to preserve and celebrate Little Italy on Commercial Drive. I personally spent years advocating for the recognition and promotion of Little Italy on Commercial Drive to celebrate the culture and heritage of our community. We wanted future generations to understand the contributions Italian Canadians made to this city and to create a place where culture, food, family, music, and community could continue to thrive and to promote Vancouver as a fun city. Something we got to work hard on. We've done very well in the last few years, but we're going to keep pushing on that. Italian Day has become one of the most visible and successful expressions of that vision. Today, it is one of Vancouver's largest cultural festivals. It also showcases Vancouver as a vibrant, welcoming, multicultural city. What is important for Council to understand is that the financial challenges facing Italian Day this year are unique and outside of the organization's control. We appreciate the consideration for a one-time grant, but as Melissa has said, to keep this festival alive, we need to consider how we can work together to sustaining rising costs. And let me tell you, every single year, the water is right here, and we always think maybe this is our last year. We may not be able to go the next year because it is getting up there. This is not simply funding in an event. It is supporting culture, tourism, small business, and community connection in Vancouver. Events like this matter to our city. They bring life to our streets, support local economies, and strengthen community during a time when many organizations are struggling with rising costs. I want to thank Councillor Domenato for bringing this motion forward for consideration. On behalf of Villecentro and many members of the Italian-Canadian community, I respectfully ask Council's support.
Statement Watch
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for having us here. My name is Benalla Gaudio, and I'm the executive director for Italian Day on the Drive. And I thank you for this opportunity to come and speak today in support of the motion Councillor Lisa Dominato has put forth for the extraordinary grant of $60,000 to assist with Italian Day's 2026 shortfall. I have been with the Italian Day Festival Society since 2011 and have seen costs rise from an initial $80,000 cost to now close to $600,000, which would be even higher if it wasn't for the additional in-kind support from our partners and sponsors. Close to 60% of our expenses incurred represent base costs just to shut down the street and ensure public safety, along with sanitation, insurance, traffic management, security, production, and equipment. Since we returned in 2023, after three years of not having the 14-block festival due to the pandemic, costs have almost tripled in many cases. As an example, in 2019, before Festshare was to come into effect in 2020, our gross costs on city services provided for the festival were just under $40,000. In 2023, when the festival returned and the FestShare grant was applied for the first time, the gross costs were close to $100,000, almost triple what was in 2019. Today, gross costs before applying FestShare grant are closer to $140,000 and rising each year. This is just one example demonstrating the degree of cost increases we face, which is becoming impossible to maintain. The $75,000 FestShare grant, although helpful, today remains what it was when it first passed and in a few short years does not consider the dramatic rise in costs leaving us and many festivals at risk. This is something Mayor and Council should consider for future as a longer term solution to help resolve the variance between what costs were when FestShare was first passed and what they are now. A challenging economic climate has also seen sponsor revenue streams shrink, resulting in lower funding amounts and more challenges to obtain sponsorships. In addition, valuable grants have disappeared or have become virtually impossible to obtain because of the competitive nature for these grants. It has been two years since we received any provincial funding, which in 2023 and 2024 amounted to $100,000 combined from the BCFFE grant. The grant was discontinued in 2025 and replaced with a DEP program, which has more of a tourism focus. This year has been an exceptionally difficult year. Although we are one of the only festivals approved by FIFA to move forward with the event during the game window, the competitive nature of obtaining funds from sponsors with the World Cup in play has had us drop in historic funding significantly. Add to that the removal of one of the key benefits which draws sponsors to support, this being the street banners on the drive announcing the festival and its sponsors, now have been taken by FIFA. Further opportunities were lost to obtain funding. We have worked hard to make up the difference in revenue loss as well as additional revenue needed to address anticipated cost increases, but there remains a $60,000... Rene, I'm sorry if that's your time.
Okay.
Yeah. I just wanted to say Italian Day is one of the most anticipated festivals of the year, embracing all ages and cultures together in a unifying and uplifting way. Sorry, that's your time.
Statement Watch
Hello, Chair and members. Yes, I'm on the phone. Yeah, please go ahead, Nathan. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Yeah. Thank you, Chair and members of the committee. Yeah, my name is Nathan Davinovich, and I support the Italian Days and all the other festivals in the city, and I hope that the BC government will fund them properly. The problem arise is when the streets are closed and people are left stranded in their home, like they are prisoners in their own home. They bought the monthly pass to use transit, but then there is no transit for at least 12 hours on commercial drive. If you go on Beach Avenue, I don't know how many days throughout the summer. There is no bus service. So why would somebody buy a pass and he can't use it? Just said, yeah, you're leaving seniors and disabled people, prisoners in their own home. They can't go out anywhere because there's no bus service. Now, there is a solution. And other cities have done that. And Hansling doesn't want to do it, which is the golf cart. 12-passenger golf cart that can fit in. Chair, can you remind the speaker to stay on topic?
Sorry to interrupt. I just know the speaker's talking about 12-passenger golf carts and we're debating Italian days.
Yeah, Nathan, we're talking about Italian Day on the drive, so please focus on your... Well, that's what I'm calling about.
The people around commercial drive on Italian Day are going, left prisoners on their own home because TransLink does not want to provide alternate service to the bus service they are taking away. And it's up to council to request TransLink to provide alternate service. And, you know, it's just, I mean, it's a long way for people to walk, you know, and either to cloud drive or on a nine-way street, it's even farther away from commercial drive. It's almost one kilometer because the transit doesn't want to put a bus service on Victoria Drive. So we have all kinds of challenges, and I don't know what... You said council can't really do anything, but I can recommend things to TransLink and ask the city manager to discuss better ways to serve the public without street closures. Thank you very much for your help. All right. Thanks, Nathan.