The Capital Regional Music Awards Society is hoping the second time’s the charm when it comes to hosting one of the most popular Canadian music awards.
The society said it will be putting in a bid to the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to host the 2018 Juno Awards.
This comes after the society submitted a bid to host the Junos in 2014, but lost to Winnipeg.
However, after the success of music festivals such as Rifflandia and Rock the Shores, along with hosting the Western Canadian Music Awards and BreakOut West earlier this month, the society believes it’s ready to take on a large-scale event such as the Junos.
“Given the success of the Western Canadian Music Awards and BreakOut West, we felt it was good timing. Let’s tilt with this windmill one more time and see if they’re ready for us,” said Ken Kelly, board member with the society.
During the western awards, there were more than 600 delegates from across the country in 22 venues around the city.
Kelly squashed speculation about the size of the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to host large-scale musical performances and longer travel times, noting Victoria is a larger community compared to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Regina who hosted the Junos in 2010 and 2013.
“The smaller communities are all the more receptive and enthusiastic and wanting to embrace and demonstrate how much they love hosting the event,” Kelly said. “It gives us the opportunity to showcase local artists and create that mix between local and visiting artists.”
The society will work with the province and the 13 municipalities in the CRD to help submit the bid, Kelly added.
“We’re a musical city, that’s why it would be a great honour for us to host the event. It would reinforce and strengthen that identity as a music city,” he said.
The 2016 Junos will be held in Calgary and the bids are currently closing for the 2017 Junos.
The Junos generally occur in late March early April and is one of the largest music awards celebrating Canadian artists.
