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Tourism, Culture and Recreation
June 11, 2010

Increased Investment Provided to Grand Bank Theatre Festival

The Honourable Terry French, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, was in Grand Bank today to announce that $40,000 in operational funding will be provided to Lighthouse Productions, organizers of the Grand Bank Theatre Festival, to offset costs associated with 2010 programming. The funding represents a $5,000 increase in Provincial Government funding to the festival.

Minister French was joined by the Honourable Darin King, MHA for Grand Bank, and Bernie Stapleton, Artistic Director of the Grand Bank Regional Theatre Festival.

"Each year, the province's professional theatre festivals offer a wide variety of entertaining and memorable performances, attracting visitors from both within and outside Newfoundland and Labrador," said Minister French. "Held in various regions throughout the province, these events continue to be significant contributors to the local economy, while sustaining and enhancing the unique cultural identity of the surrounding communities."

The Grand Bank Regional Theatre Festival will be held at the Grand Bank Theatre from June 18 to August 28.

"This regional theatre festival is an important contributor for both tourism and economic development on the Burin Peninsula," said Minister King. "The festival has seen tremendous improvements and growth over the past number of years, including major improvements to the facility, increased employment opportunities for individuals throughout the entire region, and greater tourist traffic to the area."

Kelvin Matthews, Chair of the Board of Lighthouse Productions, said the 2010 season is shaping up to be an exciting one, particularly with the debut of Easy, Down Easy, written by Gordon Pinsent, and produced in co-operation with the Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre.

"For 15 years, we have been producing world-class theatre at the Grand Bank Regional Theatre Festival," said Mr. Matthews "Our artistic director, Bernie Stapleton and all of our staff work tirelessly and this can be seen in the high standards and quality of each and every show."

Professional theatre festivals in Newfoundland and Labrador have been provided $255,000 in operational funding through the cultural component of the Provincial Government's 2010 Cultural Economic Development Program (CEDP), a $25,000 increase over 2009 funding levels.

Budget 2010: The Right Investments — For Our Children and Our Future provides $2.8 million to support arts, cultural and heritage initiatives throughout the province, with $1.5 million earmarked for the arts and culture sectors. Since the launch of the province's cultural strategy, Creative Newfoundland and Labrador in 2006, the Provincial Government has invested more than $28 million into the arts and culture sectors.

CEDP projects are selected based on the strength of the business plans, vision, and potential development within the sector. For more information on the CEDP program and application guidelines, please visit: www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/tcr/artsculture/cedp/index.html.

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Media contacts:

Heather May
Director of Communications
Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation
709-729-0928, 697-5061
heathermay@gov.nl.ca
Corey Parsons
Constituency Assistant
Hon. Darin King, MHA for Grand Bank
709-832-2531
coreyparsons@gov.nl.ca 

 

Deanne Hickman
Operations Manager
Grand Bank Theatre
709-832-
2284
theatrefestival@townofgrandbank.net
 

2010 06 11                                                       9:50 a.m.


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