Greater Napanee Council threw their support behind a staff recommendation for support of the Arts and Culture Awards.
Council will support the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee in their efforts to plan and deliver Arts Awards approximately every two years. Council will also waive the associated fees for using Town Hall or, in the event it is unavailable, the conference room at the Best and Bash Centre to host the Arts Awards.
In addition, Council authorized the use of up to approximately four hours of staff time to assist with set-up, take-down, and communications of the Arts Awards through Town communications channels.
In keeping with the significant number of arts-related discussions, Council approved the Arts Advisory Committee recommendation to plan for Music by the River 2025 under the mandate of promoting local artists. The committee also recommended that a portion of the 2025 committee budget be put toward this event. The Town has currently allocated $5,000 toward the committee budget, with that money going toward Culture Days and also may include money for the Arts Awards Banquet.
In 2024, $2,025 was allocated to Music by the River.
This recommendation follows the meeting on Monday, Mar. 3, 2025, in which the committee agreed to take steps to begin planning this cherished musical event.
While Councillor Bob Norrie noted this event will be scaled back for 2025, with only two shows in both July and August, their mandate to promote local artists remains.
“We’ve scaled it back to an amount that we think is good and we’re looking for local talent,” said Norrie.
Music by the River has been an ongoing event for over a decade, with varying levels of involvement with the Town. In 2015, the Town began supporting this endeavour directly through the Arts and Culture Committee.
In closing, Councillor Dave Pinnell voiced strong support for this event, stating he is in favour of “anything that promotes the natural beauty of our town.”
Sarah Williams is a Napanee-based reporter with the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI). The LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.