To be fair, presumably part of this could be allocated to "Tourism".

Governments give grants all the time to groups hosting events and parades. We even had a 'media controversy' in Ontario recently over a big yellow duckie. 

If you were lucky enough, you might have read comments from the organizers that the big yellow duckie was a bit of a gimmick to attract young kids to the event. But the media for the most part was more interested in the "waste" and "extravagance" of the government doing this. 

Anyway, think 'tourism' folks.