Local promoter hopes big festivals will share the spotlight

The co-owner of an Ottawa live music venue is hoping some of the city's bigger music festivals might be willing to spread their events beyond the festival grounds.

Jon Evenchick of Live on Elgin said he would love to see partnerships with venues like his for afterparties or networking events during the day.

"We have had afterparties before and they have been pretty good, but I think it would be good to have [events such as] Bluesfest promoting them," he said on CBC's All In A Day Monday.

He said having festivals officially partner with them could help redirect fans and encourage people to see more of the city.

"The fans [would] do it because they are getting a chance to see these bands in a more intimate venue," he said.

He said many tourists also don't get to events outside the festival grounds and this could help open up the city to them.

"Ottawa has a problem with visibility and there are a lot of venues that people don't know about," he said.

"A lot of tourists will go and they will see the festival, but they won't go anywhere else."

He posted about the idea online this past weekend and said he has had a lot of good feedback on the issue.

He is hopeful that with the right proposal, major festivals could be brought on board by next summer.