Watch:Beaches Jazz Festival supporters launch petition to save funding. Carey Marsden reports.

TORONTO Beaches Jazz Festival supporters have launched an online petitionto urge Ontarioto restore funding to the free summer event after an annual provincial grant was not renewed this month.

The festival, which attracted an estimated 500,000 people last year, received $75,000 from the Celebrate Ontario program in each of the last six years.

Organizers were told on March 13 that they would no longer receive the funding this time around.

This year, the festival is in danger of being drastically reduced in size and scope because the funding that it has regularly received for the past 6 years has not been renewed by the government, the petition wrote.

Critics argued the move seemed odd as the governing Liberals reportedly awarded a $300,000 grant to multimillionaire rap star Drake was to stage his two-day OVO Fest in Toronto this summer.

Watch: (Mar 20) The Beaches Jazz Festival has been denied a provincial grant it has received in the past. Carey Marsden reports.

Meanwhile, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a company thats estimated to be worth $2 billion, wants $10 million from the province to upgrade BMO Field in Toronto a city-owned property.

The company that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, and Torontos professional soccer team says it will put in $90 million for the upgrade, but only if it gets $30 million from the city, province and federal government.

Tourism Minister Michael Chan defended the decision on Monday, saying Celebrate Ontario is a competitive program, which attracted 441 applications last year, and supports many events across the province.

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Beaches Jazz Festival supporters launch petition to save funding