Each summer dance enthusiasts gather to watch professional dance while overlooking the beautiful water at Lake Ontario Park. The Ground Up Dance Festival has received outstanding reviews for the artistic experience we provide in our outdoor performance event. Over two nights the community of Kingston packs their camping chairs, and blankets to sit on the hill and stairs at Lake Ontario Park to enjoy live performances. However this year instead of everyone sitting on the grass, we want to upgrade our audience's viewing experience and provide a section of chairs that can enable accessible and safe seating closer to the performance area. Providing accessible art experiences is one of our main platforms. Our community have diverse needs, therefore we want to make sure we are providing diverse viewing experiences.

This annual performance is becoming a highlight of the festival scene in Kingston, and we want to make sure the community has the desire to come back year after year. We have about 200 people each night. A mix of families, children, and mature adults gathering. We believe that if we were able to provide a section of comfortable seating that we could access another group of art going viewers that wouldn’t originally come because of the sitting circumstances. We work with the City of Kingston to utilize non traditional performance areas as gathering places for art. This funding would ensure that we can continue to explore the beautiful outdoor facilities that span our city like parks, squares, waterfront, and gazebo areas.

The seating situation has been our major concern regarding this major part of the festival. However the art funding we receive is stipulated to go towards mainly artist fees, therefore leaving little room for production equipment. This is why we are seeking further funding from our community.