Last year Drake received a $300,000 grant from The Canadian Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport to put towards his annual OVO Fest, to the dismay of many; this year, the Boy will be left to foot the bill by his lonesome. The Ministry recently released their Celebrate Ontario 2015 schedule of events, and as HotNewHipHop points out, it appears that OVO Fest either did not apply or did not make the cut this year.
The Celebrate Ontario grant's mission is to "enhance programs, activities and services that will lead to long-term improvements" and to help "grow tourism in the province by making it easier for festival and event organizers to offer new and improved experiences that will attract more tourists and increase visitor spending." Last year critics questioned why a superstar like Drake needed the tax payers dollars, but Michael Chan, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister Chan, explained in an interview with Billboard that festival off-shots including a charity partnership, basketball tournament, celebrity panel and beach party made it worthy of the award.
The sixth annual OVO Fest is scheduled to take place on August 1 through August 3, with a billing that includes J. Cole, Big Sean, YG, Jeremih, Kevin Hart, and of course the 6 God himself, as well as any number of TBA special guests. Tickets for the three-day event went fast, but there's always StubHub.
Lead Images: Kevin Winters/Getty
