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Kevin Flynn, MPP Oakville announces funding for 2012 Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival

Largely considered one of the leading jazz festivals in the Greater Toronto Area, the Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival enters into its’ 20th year this August 10th-12th, 2012.  The Downtown Oakville BIA Jazz Committee was ecstatic to hear from Kevin Flynn, MPP that the Downtown Oakville BIA will once again be receiving $75,000 in funding through the Celebrate Ontario 2012 program.

"Each summer, the Jazz Festival draws thousands of residents and tourists to Downtown Oakville providing a substantial boost to our local economy," says Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn. "With this funding, the BIA can continue to strategically enhance the event programming and ensure another successful event this year. I encourage all to mark the dates on their calendar and make their way to the Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival this August. I’m looking forward to it!" Says Kevin Flynn MPP.

In 2011 the BIA went forward and closed Lakeshore for the second year in a row all day Saturday and strategically increased the event programming for the whole weekend.  This brought more people into the downtown core, and for 2012 a headline act will be set in the early afternoon to keep the downtown bustling and to increase the economic impact that Jazz brings to Halton and Oakville and downtown Oakville! Oakville’s downtown core as the venue is a key success factor for the Jazz Festival.

"The Jazz Festival is a dynamic cultural experience, which offers residents and visitors the opportunity to enjoy first class jazz in one of the best downtowns in Ontario over a 3-day period. This year we are very proud to present Allen Toussaint, John Hammond, Peter Appleyard, Joey DeFrancesco, Tierney Sutton, Magic Slim & The Teardrops as our headliners for the 2012 Jazz Festival", says Joseph Diodati, chair and Suzy Godefroy, manager from the Downtown Oakville BIA. "We were both thrilled to hear that the Province of Ontario is once again supporting the Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival – THANK YOU!" says  Joseph Diodati also Chair of the Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival & Chair of the Downtown Oakville BIA.

In addition to this the Downtown Oakville BIA also signed on TD Canada Trust as the Gold Sponsor for the Festival. "TD Canada Trust is eager to be part of this years’ festival and as a downtown Oakville business, we know how important this event is to the community and to the downtown business core" Says Brian Wood, Manager, TD Canada Trust.

Over the past 20 years, the Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival has been able to host over forty free concerts over a three day weekend in downtown Oakville, on three main venues in the downtown Oakville area as well as two smaller stages Friday and Saturday evening. In addition to the main stages, the Festival also take places within the over 200 boutique retail found within the downtown Oakville shopping and business district.

The Downtown Oakville BIA Jazz Festival is a key event-marketing product that meets the mandate of the Downtown Oakville BIA which is to promote and enhance the downtown area and make improvements to municipally owned properties by driving more traffic to downtown Oakville, build community among members of the Downtown Oakville BIA and enhance organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

Small Town Charm... Big Time Jazz!
August 10 to 12, 2012. For more information please call 905-844-4520 or visit www.oakvilledowntown.com.