After two years of quiet, Vancouver Island MusicFest is coming back with a bang, hosting three days of music at the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds July 8-10, 2022. Resurrecting one of Canada’s premier festivals is no small feat, and festival organizers are grateful to a growing team of sponsors lending a hand.
“We have 118 sponsors to date, and more to come. They’re a huge huge part of the festival and making it work,” says Vancouver Island MusicFest production manager Cresslynn Brodhagen. “We’re in the trenches of it right now, making sure we have everything we need. But it’s an amazing machine that starts rumbling to life at this time of year.”
- Food: Sponsors including Quality Foods and Saputo donate groceries to ensure that performers and volunteers are well nourished during the festival, and during set-up and take-down. The Comox Valley Curling Club rents space to the festival at a reduced rate, where all of those groceries can be turned into delicious meals before the kitchen tent has been set up. Some sponsors deliver sandwiches during festival clean-up, and Mark Anthony, Cumberland Brewing Co. and Cascadia Liquor ensure the beer garden is fully stocked!
- Site Construction: Lumber for stage construction, sand for flood mitigation, paint for signage and even bungee cords and zap straps are donated by sponsors or provided at a significantly reduced rate. Other sponsors loan covered trailers and trucks to help transport supplies. “GFL Environment Inc. gives us an incredible deal on fencing and portable toilets. Another sponsor uses a water truck to spray down our road to keep the dust down,” Brodhagen says. “All these little working pieces help make the festival happen.”
Sponsors of MusicFest donate supplies and equipment or offer them at a reduced rate, and help with every aspect of the festival — including site construction. - Passion Projects: Some sponsors take the initiative and bring special projects to life — improving accessibility for festival patrons using mobility aids, or sponsoring environmental improvements that reduce waste and improve sustainability, for example. “I always say that I don’t need to know it all, I just need to know the people who know how to do it!” Brodhagen says.
- Raffle Prizes: The annual raffle is an important fundraiser for Vancouver Island MusicFest, and sponsors donate the wonderful prizes that entice people to buy tickets.
- Transportation and accommodation: Shuttles for performers and volunteers, rental vans for collecting supplies pre-festival, and hotel rooms for performers are all generously donated (or provided at a reduced rate) by sponsors.
- Publicity: A variety of media organizations sponsor the festival, including Black Press Media and the Comox Valley Record! Media help spread the word about MusicFest.
“We were really well supported by our sponsors and by the public during the pandemic, and that continues. People donated funds or held onto their tickets when the 2020 and 2021 festivals were cancelled, and volunteers would show up to help whenever we needed it,” Brodhagen says. “It’s the sense of community we have at the festival. We are a family, and that’s what we do — we take care of each other.”
Visit https://musicfest.tickit.ca/musicfestdonation to donate, or contact cresslynn@islandmusicfest.com to become a sponsor.