4th Line Theatre, Millbrook

4th Line Theatre enjoyed a successful summer season with two sold-out productions and a feature on CBC’s Newsworld.  With help from Celebrate Ontario, the theatre was able to attract additional professional artists and reach new audiences; their GTA attendance increased by 100 per cent and visitors included tourists from Florida and British Columbia.

Festival du Loup 2009, Lafontaine

A celebration of the heritage, the language and the French-Canadian culture of the Lafontaine area, Festival du Loup engaged visitors with tours of local farms, musical performances and farmers’ and artists’ kiosks. Audience participation was enhanced with group drumming and dancing with First Nations dancers, and children enjoyed a greater number of games thanks to extra funding from Celebrate Ontario.

Oakville Waterfront Festival, Oakville

Retrofest, Chatham

A free three-day festival, Retrofest celebrates Chatham-Kent as the “Classic Car Capitol.” Thanks to Celebrate Ontario, this year the festival was able to add a highly successful family fun area that delighted capacity crowds with free rides and live entertainment. Overall, event attendance increased this year by approximately 10,000 people with many from the Michigan area.

St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, Prescott
Both of the festival’s productions, The Taming of the Shrew and Measure for Measure, received great reviews this year and audience attendance increased by 13 per cent. Audiences included an increase in visitors from outside Ontario, particularly from Northern New York State. With help from Celebrate Ontario the festival was able to redevelop its website resulting in double the amount of website visits.

Scotiabank Toronto International BuskerFest, Toronto

BuskerFest celebrated its 10th anniversary this year with enhanced accessibility, added performers, and a 25 per cent expansion to its site thanks to Celebrate Ontario. Over 100 of the best street performers from around the world entertained crowds over four days at this year’s BuskerFest which attracted an estimated 1.3 million attendees.

Tilbury Fun Fest, Tilbury