On Thursday, August 1st, Victoria city council voted to greenlight four grants for Major Community Initiatives and Events, one of which being Sonic Symphony Splash.
Sonic Symphony Splash will receive a $250,000 grant in order to recreate the well-loved festival that hasn’t taken place since 2019.
The festival features a professional and prominent stage on a barge which is towed into Victoria’s Inner Harbour. From the shore and from personal watercraft, thousands of people used to flock to the downtown core to enjoy the free music festival.
The festival will come back as a multi-day event for August 2025 and will take place over the BC Day long weekend.
Originally, Symphony Splash was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and at the time was replaced with the Symphony in the Summer Festival, which is taking place between July 24th and August 3rd.
“Symphony Splash has got to be one of the most iconic events in the city’s history. I don’t know why it stopped. But I’m excited that there’s an interest in bringing this back,” said Councillor Matt Dell during the committee of the whole meeting.
“I think most of the public is going to be thrilled if we can say we’re partnering with the Victoria Symphony to bring back this iconic event.”
The other applicants that were approved for funds through the Major Community Initiatives and Events grant program are:
- The 2024 Music Plaza Renewal Initiative through the Victoria Conservatory of Music who will receive $131,000
- The 2025 U17 World Hockey Challenge who will receive $250,000
- Providing the Downtown Victoria Business Association’s Lights of Wonder 2025 project with $200,000
One of the projects that was not approved by council was the refinancing of the Other Guise Theatre Society, who lost some of their funding and was seeking $250,000 from the program.
Council moved to have City staff work with the theatre society in this case as they had concerns over the application.
