Hello Band Directors and Music Educators,

The Capital Region Music Festival has always been dedicated to providing the best possible music experience for your students through our festival. The current strike position of our provincial unions, at both the elementary and secondary levels, in addition to the challenges of bargaining with the provincial government, leaves us all in a very uncertain position.

At this point in time, the CRMF Committee is making full preparations for the festival to run from February 20 to March 3, 2020.

In the event of strike action, we may be unable to run the 2020 festival. This would be due to the fact that most of the volunteers on the committee are Secondary Teachers and would not be able to work at the festival. In addition, in the event of strike action, CRMF may also be unable to use the venues as the OCDSB's community use programs are dependent on support staff being in the schools to ensure safety.

In addition to the above scenario, if in the next few weeks there continues to be uncertainty with contract bargaining, we may have to cancel the festival in order to be able to provide full refunds to all schools in the event of any possibility of work action occurring closer to the festival. A final decision regarding whether or not we can run the 2020 festival will be made by January 13th.

Our current cancellation policy states that any ensemble who has to cancel their festival performance will not receive a refund. However, we would like to emphasize that if your school is unable to participate in the festival due to strike action, we will refund all registration fees. We are holding off on depositing cheques, booking flights, adjudicators and hotel rooms until there is a clearer picture of the contract situation.

In the end, please know that the Capital Region Music Festival committee will do everything within our control to best serve all of our students and directors. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Stephen Szabo, the Regional Coordinator, at( 613) 795-7294 or Stephen.Szabo@ocdsb.ca

Kind regards,

Stephen Szabo CRMF Regional Coordinator

Kim Vrieling CRMF Treasurer

Grace Vigneron CRMF Registrar