London, Ont. to host Juno Awards in March 2019
Kate Dubinski, Colin Butler | CBC News | Posted: January 29, 2018 4:05 PM | Last Updated: January 29, 2018
The Juno Awards will be hosted in London, Ont. for the first time since their inception in 1970
London, Ont. will host Canada's music giants and rising stars as it hosts the 2019 Juno Awards next March.
The city was announced as the host city Monday at the London Music Hall after making a successful bid that cost $1.7 million.
The 48th annual Juno Awards and Juno Week 2019 will be hosted in London from March 11 to March 17, 2019, culminating with the awards ceremony on the final day.
The award ceremony will be broadcast live on CBC Television and online from London's Budweiser Gardens Sunday, March 17, 2019.
'This is incredible news for our community'
London Mayor Matt Brown, who has worked with city council to help enshrine music and entertainment into the city's revitalization strategy called the announcement "incredible news for our community."
The city created the London Music Office in November of 2015. The office was established to support tourism and jobs through the city's music and live performance industry.
Allan Reid, the head of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts, said the fact that London enshrined music into its public policy was a big determination in why the Junos picked it as a host city in 2019.
"As one of Canada's emerging cultural scenes we are excited to show the world how culturally rich and diverse London is," said Chris Campbell, Tourism London's director of culture and entertainment tourism.
"The Juno Awards is London's opportunity to bring artists and music fans to our great city to showcase our hospitality and our growing music scene and we could not be happier to be the 2019 host city."
The Monday announcement included a live performance by the Ivory Hours at the London Music Hall.
London tourism officials also announced that starting Jan. 29, $1 from every ticket sold to shows at Budweiser Gardens, Centennial Hall and the London Music Hall will go toward MusiCounts, a music education charity that provides musical instruments to children.
Host cities benefit from about $10 million in direct and in-direct spinoff revenue, according to the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
The 2018 Junos are being broadcast from Vancouver on March 25.