The Beaches Jazz Festival has announced OLG as the presenting sponsor of its Weekend Series, running from July 25 to 27 at Woodbine Park. This is OLG’s 18th year of partnership with the festival.

The event, now in its 37th year, presents a broad spectrum of jazz and related genres over four weekends, with a diverse selection of established and emerging Canadian and international artists.

As part of its sponsorship, OLG will launch experiential activations at the festival, including a lounge for festival-goers to relax and refresh with free water refills, phone charging stations and promotional activities, such as lottery vouchers for free play.

Maxine Chapman, VP of brand and marketing officer, tells MiC that through its presence at local events, OLG underscores the brand’s DNA of giving back to communities via safe and healthy play. Festivals showcase OLG’s “Bring Home the Win” platform, highlighting that 100% of the compay’s profits go back to Ontario communities.

“There are still many Ontarians, in particular the player of the future, that don’t realize their play benefits local communities,” Chapman says. “We want to clearly communicate that when you play with OLG, you support Ontario.”

In particular, the Beaches Jazz Festival is a key event for OLG. With thousands of players in attendance, Champagne notes the festival is an opportunity to reinforce how the brand message has evolved over the last few years, reminding players that they are the ones making a difference in Ontario by playing with an organization that supports local.

She emphasizes the importance of players recognizing the local benefits of OLG’s operations, given the discretionary nature of lottery products in personal spending habits. “As an entertainment company, we realize our products are considered discretionary when it comes to personal spending habits,” she says.

The festival also appeals to the community at large, with a special focus on adults over the age of 18, in line with OLG’s target audience. Organizers estimate that 750,000 people from local, regional and provincial levels will attend this year.

“OLG is consistently looking for ways to show up, in a relevant way, where our players are,” Chapman says. “When you have potentially 750,000 of a brand’s target audience in one location, we always see this as a great opportunity to reinforce our giveback message.”

The brand renews its partnership with the Beaches Jazz Festival, as TD Bank Group also returns as a sponsor, alongside other major partners including Bell Canada, Rogers, Ford, Maple Lodge Farms and Sephora. The sponsorships comes at a time when arts and cultural events in the country are facing challenges after losing major sponsors in recent years, including Pride Toronto, which told CBC that three major corporate sponsors operating in Canada and the U.S. had withdrawn their funding this year.