May 20, 1999
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

CN Tower to become a slice of Newfoundland and Labrador for thousands!

Charles Furey, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, announced today government's partnership with the CN Tower and Fabian James Productions to transform the world's tallest free standing structure into a slice of Newfoundland and Labrador. From June 25 to July 3, the CN Tower in Toronto will become a mini version of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The initiative which began as a provincial pavilion in one area of the CN Tower, as part of Caravan 1999, has exploded into a full-fledged transformation of the CN Tower to a piece of Newfoundland and Labrador displaying the province's tourism products, IT sector, crafts, and arts community. Caravan is an exciting annual multi-cultural festival held at various venues throughout the Toronto area.

"This is an excellent opportunity for us to bring a sample of Newfoundland and Labrador to the Toronto area and beyond by offering a taste of our culture, heritage and entertainment," says Furey. "Southern Ontario is our largest tourism market and this initiative complements our successful tourism promotions strategy. Business, the arts and the cultural industries will all be represented in the various elements of the display throughout the tower."

Icebergs will be the key theme for the pavilion which will offer a taste of the province for all visitors through an exciting combination of theme displays, special attractions, music, food, entertainment, retail exhibition, tourism information, and an audio visual component. The Newfoundland and Labrador pavilion is one of more than 30 pavilions to be located all around the city of Toronto as part of Caravan Festival, which features an immense array of cultures, subjects and themes.

The CN Tower entertains almost 2 million guests annually from across Canada and around the world. The CN Tower's participation in Caravan is part of their new focus to provide interesting and relevant special events to the people of the greater Toronto area. Caravan Festival was founded in 1969 and allows guests to travel the world and experience unique food, culture, music and art from a wide variety of countries. Caravan passports can be purchased at the Festival Caravan office by calling (416) 977-0466.

Media contact:

Tara Laing
Communications
(709) 729-0928
(709) 685-8102

George Earles
Soiree '99
(709) 729-4825.

1999 05 20         12:45 p.m.