Premier Darrell Dexter says the province hasn’t been approached for funding for this summer’s concerts on the Halifax Common, and it doesn’t intend to provide any.
“There have been no negotiations around any concerts, and we haven’t put any money into them, no,” he said Thursday. “I don’t even think we’ve been approached on these (concerts), so the answer is no.”
The provincial government under Rodney MacDonald paid $600,000 to assist promoter Harold MacKay to stage last year’s Paul McCartney concert on the Common. The province offered MacKay a $3.5-million guarantee to cover McCartney’s fees, but MacKay found the money through ticket sales.
This summer will feature two-day concerts on Halifax’s North Common — Halifax Rocks July 23-24, and Country Rockfest Aug. 6-7. Halifax Rocks will feature groups of disparate genres — Kid Rock, the Counting Crows, Weezer, and the Black Eyed Peas. Alan Jackson will headline Country Rockfest.
Dexter said the NDP would consider funding concerts in the future, assuming there was an economic argument for doing so.
“We would consider things on a case-by-case basis if there was some kind of a tangible benefit to it,” he said.
