THUNDER BAY — Two local music festivals have collectively received $180,000 from the province’s Experience Ontario 2025 fund.
Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming Stan Cho was at Fort William Historical Park to announce $20 million in grants through the fund for more than 350 events province-wide, including Bay Fest and Wake the Giant in Thunder Bay.
BayFest, the recently rebranded Country Fest, will receive $125,000 for the festival planned for July 18 to 20 at FWHP. Loverboy, Big Wreck, Chilliwack, Harlequin, 54-40, Kim Mitchell, Lou Gramm (the former lead singer of Foreigner), the Headpins, Trooper and Streetheart are all scheduled to perform at the three-day event.
Wake the Giant, which just announced Black Eyed Peas as its big headliner for this year, received $55,000. The sixth annual event will take place Sept. 6 at Marina Park.
“It's always important to celebrate our culture and to create jobs and spur on the economy, but I think it's more important now than ever with the uncertainty going on in the south,” said Cho, alluding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and claims to want to make Canada the 51st state.
“I've never been more proud to be a Canadian, and I think many people feel that way,” said Cho. “It's time to celebrate what makes us so unique and so Canadian, whether that is an individual cranberry festival in the Muskoka region or it's BayFest going on right here in Thunder Bay or Wake the Giant right here also in Thunder Bay.”
Paul Pepe, manager of Tourism Thunder Bay, said this funding will help elevate the presence of both festivals in the community and attract more people to the city looking for music events.
Pepe added major music events can have an impact of more than $1 million per event on the local economy.
“They're an important part of the tourism mix in our community and when we look at how we promote Thunder Bay, how we build Thunder Bay as a diversified tourism economy, support for these sort of events are really critical,” said Pepe, adding it’s important the city offers a multitude of experiences for visitors interested in different things.
