This weekend's Juno Awards will inject much-needed cash into the Vancouver economy.
With about 3,800 hotel rooms booked for the event, organizers anticipate that about $1 million of awards-related spending will flow across the city.
But most of the cash that is going to be spent over the four days of Juno celebrations cannot be tracked, says Tourism Vancouver's director of sales Richard Yore.
"Those people who are booking rooms on their own on-line, you know, they go out to restaurant for meals, use taxis, go to our night clubs, to our shops as well," said Yore.
And that's good news for local businesses that have seen unusually low sales, even for March--a month that's caught between the end of ski season and start of cruise ship crowds.
"I think people are scared of spending money these days," said Charlie Toussi of Charlie's Music City. But with a surge in business expected, "we're going to work much harder," he added.
For those people who can't afford the big awards show or expensive galas; the 900 block of Granville Street is being transformed into party central, and everyone's invited. Robson Street will also be pedestrian-only,
"I think it's just going to be fantastic for this whole area," said Ray Short, manager of the Lennox, located on the corner of Granville Street and Robson Street.
There is lots of extra beer, but they're still a little nervous about keeping up. "But we're expecting [the rush] so we're getting geared up for it," said Short.
Danielle Pepin at American Apparel is also expecting more customers walking through the doors.
"We're all really excited," said Pepin. "Well, we're expecting a lot of traffic."
With a report by CTV's St. John Alexander
