The mining downturn has claimed its latest victim — Vale has cancelled its popular summer concert series.
Organized by promoter Bob Bale, for the past four years the Vale Concert Series has raised about $77,000 for the Sudbury Food Bank by offering free monthly concerts at Grace Hartman Amphitheatre in Bell Park.
Bale told Sudbury.com that one of the highlights of the four-year series was the Ennis concert in August 2015, a show that drew a crowd of 2,200 and raised close to $7,000 in cash for the food bank, and another $1,500 in food donations.
Angie Robson, manager of corporate and Aboriginal affairs at Vale, said the downturn in mining has forced the company to re-evaluate its financial support for the concert series, adding that when the market improves, the company hopes to bring the popular concerts back.
“Due to an unprecedented downturn in the market that is affecting mining companies across the world, the Vale Concert Series has been cancelled for this summer,” Robson said in a statement to Sudbury.com.
“Vale would like to thank all residents of the community who were such loyal followers of the Concert Series, which to date has raised almost $80,000 for the Sudbury Food Bank. These challenging times require difficult decisions, and we hope to bring the concerts back when economic conditions improve.”
For his part, Bale thanked the company for the support it showed to the concert series, the Sudbury Food Bank and the community.
“The Vale Concert Series is a gift of music to the City of Greater Sudbury,” he said. “For the past four years, Vale has generously fully funded five free concerts each year at the Grace Hartman Amphitheatre.
“These concerts established a summer tradition that strengthened our sense of community while supporting the Sudbury Food Bank through voluntary donations. Thousands of people attended the free concerts each summer.
“As mining companies worldwide are currently facing very challenging times, Vale has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2016 concert series. We are all hopeful that the series will return when the economic climate improves.”
