By Pepper Parr
August 14th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
First, there was the Mayor’s Statement on the Sound of Music (SoM: it was iconic (a much overused word) then there was mention of the legacy and lots of good feeling words.
Later on the same day – Dave Shepherd released a statement on how dire things were for the Sound of Music (SoM) and that if there wasn’t any sponsorship, the event didn’t have much in the way of a future.
The Mayor set out the kind of money the city was putting into the event – not all that much – especially when you take into account the different fees the SoM had to pay the city.
What didn’t get mentioned was the business plan the SoM was required to submit for 2026 event. That was due June 1st, 2025
Producing the business plan was one of the conditions attached to the $225,000 the city loaned SoM to get the 2025 event off the ground.
What we are seeing is a lot of running around like chickens with their heads cut off – precious little in the way of a solid document put together by people who understand marketing, understand the music business and know how to get all the relevant data onto a spreadsheet that they then analyze.
Related news story:
How do you lose money with crowds like this?
Discover more from Burlington Gazette - Local News, Politics, Community
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
eve ….. have you seen documented links showing the mayor stacked these boards with personal friends ? you can probably contact BPAC and request appointment records or email the SoM board directly: The mayor’s recent statement includes board contacts (Chair and VP Ops). Ask them to publish their director recruitment/selection policy and the 2024–2025 appointment slate. the connections might be easier to follow if you had that info.
When the Mayor has close personal friends on the Board of Directors they can ignore conditions