Saint John Hosting 2017 ECMAs
SAINT JOHN – We totally called it. The Port City will play host to East Coast Music Week in 2017.
East Coast Music Week will take place from April 19 to April 23, 2017. It’s been 15 years since the city last hosted the event.
“I am thrilled that the East Coast Music Week is coming back to Saint John,” said Chuck Teed, Saint John musician and ECMA second vice chair, who worked his butt off to make this happen.
“The event is a key date on the east coast musical calendar and our committee is a dedicated to putting a special Saint John touch on this world class event.”
The week, featuring over 40 events, is expected to attract over 13,000 people, with around 2,000 of them coming in from out of town. The event will bring in about 500 performers to the city.
East Coast Music Association executive director Andy McLean says the ECMAs are expected to have a $3.1 million economic impact on the Saint John region. He says people are starting to realize East Coast music is serious business.
“We’re getting recognition for that now. We need to make sure that musicians can make a living here without having to leave and we can build an economic infrastructure,” McLean said. “From a tourism perspective, music is the number one driver to why people come to various events, so if we can build that around this event and bring people to Saint John, and show what a great scene it is here musically, everybody can benefit from that.”