NOW Magazine
Toronto bar Sweaty Betty’s is crowdfunding to stay open
A GoFundMe has launched to help the beloved 17-year-old Ossington bar pay rent and utilities during the pandemic By Richard Trapunski
Sweaty Betty’s is struggling to keep the lights on.
Before the beloved longstanding Ossington bar becomes the latest to close its doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, supporters Jessica Thomson and Michelle Bodner have launched a GoFundMe to keep it alive.
“Now is the time that we need to come together as a community and… help save this amazing bar,” she writes on the fundraiser, titled “Help save Sweaty Betty’s from closing its doors.”
NOW Magazine
These 22 Toronto live music venues closed in 2020
Music venues were already in a precarious position, but the pandemic has made many disappear this year By Richard Trapunski
The Mod Club was one of the biggest venues to call it quits this year.
Toronto music venues were in a precarious position before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but now the situation is dire.
Most venues have been closed for nine months now, but there are some exceptions. A few hosted small, socially distanced shows in the summer when public health protocol briefly allowed for it, and many pivoted to livestreaming. And this was the summer of drive-in concerts and balcony jazz.
The very red interior at Cherry Cola s in Toronto.
Toronto music venues are turning to crowd-funding to survive the pandemic.
A week after Hard Luck Bar launched a GoFundMe to cover rent and expenses, fellow rock bar Cherry Cola’s Rock ‘n’ Rolla Cabaret & Lounge at Bathurst and Queen has launched one of its own.
According to the GoFundMe page Keep Cherry Cola’s Rockin’ & Rollin’, the situation for the Bathurst bar and music venue is very urgent. Owner Cherish Stevenson writes that she’ll be locked out on Christmas Eve if she can’t pay the bar’s back rent by December 23.