Hamilton wants the Junos back, makes bid for 2019, 2020 awards

Hamilton is making a bid to bring the Juno awards back to city in 2019 or 2020, CBC News has learned.

This comes after the Juno awards swept through the city last March and multiple local acts took home trophies.

"We will be working to pursue the Juno's beginning those years," said Tourism Hamilton Manager Susan Monarch.

"We will be actively pursuing this prestigious event in the coming years."

• READ MORE:Hometown Arkells named group of the year at Junos

The city has already sent its letter of intent to the Canadian Academy of Arts and Sciences (which runs the Junos) and met with organizers about the bid.

Though the city is anxious to once again host the awards show, 2019 appears to be the earliest possibility. "I believe those are the first possible open dates," Monarch said.

It was a very positive experience for the Junos Hamilton totally knocked it out of the park.- Tim Potocic, Hamilton Juno host committee head

The 2016 Juno awards are happening in Calgary, and it's rumoured that 2017 will be in Ottawa, with the 2018 show possibly back in Toronto.

But Tim Potocic, head of the local host committee, told CBC News that the Juno's organizers were raving about the city's performance in 2015.

"It was a very positive experience for the Junos Hamilton totally knocked it out of the park," Potocic said. "There were very few issues, and that's critical with a big event.

"Everybody stepped up."

There was a definite energy about the city for the awards weekend, and most local clubs were packed for Junofest, which coincidedwith the festival. The announced attendance for the broadcast was a just-about sold-out arenaat FirstOntario Centre, with 11,761 tickets sold.

A report on the economic impact for thecityhas been completed, but can't be released to the public yet, said Glen Norton, the city's manager of urban renewal.

"It has not been seen by Council yet, so it can not be released to anyone until then," Norton said.

Local acts who won Juno awards at the show included Arkells, Diana Panton and Caribou.

adam.carter@cbc.ca | AdamCarterCBC