Shaw Festival, a Niagara-on-the-Lake Theatre, Receives $2.6 Million Dollar Grant from Industry Canada
Funding will also impact entire Niagara Region and community partners, helping to drive tourism to the Ontario destination
(PRWEB) May 25, 2010
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Colleen Blake, Executive Director of the Shaw Festival (http://www. shawfest. com), announced Friday that the Niagara-on-the-Lake theatre has received $2.6 million in continued funding through the Marquee Tourism Events Program (MTEP), the temporary two-year stimulus package introduced as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.
“The Shaw Festival is very grateful to our MP, the Honourable Rob Nicholson, and to the Government of Canada for their ongoing support of the Shaw Festival,” said Blake. “MTEP proved to be extremely helpful in 2009, contributing to a major increase in sales for The Shaw. This timely injection of financial support in 2010 will certainly have a significant economic impact for The Shaw, our community partners and the entire Niagara Region.”
This new influx of funding will allow the Shaw Festival to enhance already existing marketing initiatives and current media campaigns, as well as efforts focused on expanding The Shaw’s market reach and broadening its audience demographic.
A powerful regional and provincial economic force, The Shaw’s performance season critically affects the health of many Niagara area industries that rely on Shaw visitors during this period including Niagara-on-the-Lake attractions (http://www. shawfest. com/Home/Plan-Your-Visit/What-to-do-in-Niagara/Attractions), hotels, restaurants and more. A recent Economic Impact Study conducted by Enigma Research noted that:
Total economic impact of The Shaw Festival is estimated at $76.6 million annually The Shaw Festival attracts an estimated 78,300 tourists throughout the season nearly half travelling from outside Canada The Shaw Festival supports hundreds of jobs – an equivalent of 1150 year-round jobs in the Niagara Region – and also supports $20.9 million in tax revenue at all levels of government. The Shaw Festival is just one of several of Canada’s annual, world-class marquee tourism events that have been granted funding under the MTEP 2010 funding program.
The Shaw Festival’s Shaw 2010 season (http://www. shawfest. com/Home/Playbill) runs from April 1 to October 31 and features An Ideal Husband, The Women, The Doctor’s Dilemma, The Cherry Orchard, John Bull’s Other Island, Age of Arousal, Harvey, One Touch of Venus, Half an Hour and Serious Money.
For more information, visit http://www. shawfest. com (http://www. shawfest. com).
About the Shaw Festival Theatre
In the spirit of George Bernard Shaw, the Shaw Festival provokes the mind and stirs the soul through a theatre experience so compelling that, year after year, ever-broadening groups of artists, audiences and supporters are drawn to our work in Niagara-on-the-Lake and beyond.
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