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Vancouver City Council has approved plans for celebrations marking the city's 125th anniversary next year, but they will vary widely depending on how much money it can secure. So officials are crafting a "scalable" event, which can be beefed up or scaled back as the funding situation becomes clear - something that isn't likely to happen until late in 2010.

"We needed to develop a plan that would be executable with a small amount of money or with a larger amount of money and that is the challenge of this," said Richard Newirth, managing director of cultural services for the City of Vancouver. "The likelihood is that we'll be somewhere between $2-million and $7-million and we'll have to adjust our programs, activities, grants all on what we're able to secure."

Council has already secured nearly $2-million in city funding for programs and activities marking the event in 2011; $900,000 of that comes from its Cultural Tourism Strategy Reserve. Another $1-million in city funding has been approved in principle. The city is hoping to secure millions more through corporate sponsorships and from Ottawa. In particular, Vancouver has applied to be a Cultural Capital in 2011, a designation that comes with $2-million in federal funding.

"Certain things will definitely not happen without that money," Mr. Newirth said.

The funding picture is not expected to be clear until December, 2010 - not giving the city much time to prepare for events it plans to begin in January, 2011.

While it's difficult to determine what exactly next year's events will look like, Mr. Newirth says there will be a kickoff celebration at the beginning of the year and a major event on April 6, the anniversary date. With the low-end budget, the April 6 celebration would be held in and around city hall; with the high end, it would be held at a large indoor facility such as the Orpheum Theatre or Rogers Arena.

If the funding materializes, the city would also like to stage a free, outdoor, large-scale celebration over three to nine days in July - likely in Stanley Park but perhaps at other venues too.

There will be a visual arts component as well, including a public art program that will offer a legacy to the city.

There has been a great deal of sensitivity to native groups in formulating these plans, the city noting in its report that the land was occupied for 4,000 years before Vancouver was incorporated in 1886. "Obviously, there is a substantial history of first nations before the 125th and we're really cognizant of that," Mr. Newirth said. There will be a push to ensure "urban aboriginal artists" are involved in the commemoration.

The events will be largely community-based, with grants being made available to organizations such as business improvement associations, neighbourhood houses and residents associations. While there has been much talk of building on the momentum and success of the Cultural Olympiad, the Vancouver 125 event will clearly offer a much smaller, grassroots feel. Mr. Newirth talks about song competitions and block parties, rather than performances by the likes of Feist and important world premieres on Vancouver stages.

"The Cultural Olympiad was an enormous investment and expenditure, and a festival that we can't even try to emulate in that sense," Mr. Newirth said.

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