Several buildings spread across Greater Victoria had something in common last night: the colour red.
Victoria joined cities and individuals across Canada in shining a red light on landmark buildings on Tuesday, September 22.
The purpose was to put a spotlight on the live music community—a $100 billion industry that has effectively been shut down by COVID-19.
The event, called ‘Day of Visibility’, invited venues like theatres and concert halls, convention centres and festival grounds—places that have gone dark since the start of the pandemic—to light up for one evening.
According to Light Up Live, a group created after mass cancellations of live events across North America, the arts, entertainment and recreation sector lost 152,000 of 486,100 jobs between June 2019 and June 2020, and 86 per cent of businesses were impacted by the decrease in demand or cancellation of services.
Through this nationwide event, organizers hope to not only raise awareness, but issue the following demands:
- That the government recognize the live entertainment industry has been devastated by the effects of COVID-19, and there is no set date for return.
- Continued financial support for live event workers until the industry is back to work.
- Assistance for companies throughout the supply chain who work to create, produce, manufacture and support the live event industry.
Here in B.C.’s capital, Victoria Buzz photographer Colin Smith shows us what this ‘Day of Visibility’ looked like:
