Partners · City and funders
What isdecided.
Who is building this, what is already written down, and how the first edition gets counted. Every line below can be checked.
September 2027 · exact dates to be confirmed · subject to permits
The organisation.
Capital Cultures is being set up as a not-for-profit corporation under the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, with its office inside the city of Ottawa and a majority of its directors living in this region. It is a new festival with its own board, budget, permits and reporting.
The francophone component is to be written into its purposes at incorporation. Accessibility and bilingual production each carry their own line in the working budget.
Decisions of record.
Free entry
Both days, for everybody.
The counter stays with the community
Pavilion fee $0; 100% of pavilion takings stay with the pavilion.
Communities operate, missions support
A pavilion is operated by an Ontario non-profit; a diplomatic mission can be a programme partner or sponsor, never the operator.
No political platform
The festival takes no position on conflicts between states, governments or political movements.
The date
The first edition moves from 7–8 August 2027 to a weekend in September 2027. Our plan is a weekend in September 2027 in Ottawa. The exact dates and the site are set with the event permits from the City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission, and nothing is booked until both say yes.
Organisers' decision of record, 27 August 2026 · Organisers' decision, 19 September 2026
How we count, and what we report.
Every number this festival publishes arrives with the method that produced it.
Visits, counted at the gates
The target of the first edition is 8,000 – 12,000 visits over two days. The first measured count comes from the gates of the first edition, published with its method.
Where visitors come from
Postal-code sampling at the gates, and hotel room nights from confirmations.
Communities and people
Pavilions signed, performers on the grid, volunteer hours, subscribers to the mailing list.
Money
Audited accounts at the level the corporation's revenue requires, and each pavilion's reported turnover.
Public programmes.
Canadian Heritage's Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program, Events component, funds events held from 1 August to 30 November 2027 through its intake open from 13 January to 24 February 2027. A September weekend falls inside that window.
Provincial and municipal programme windows are re-checked against the September date before any application is filed.
Write to the office.
