Six area festivals make list of Ontario’s top 100 events
Six area festivals have been selected in an exclusive list of the top 100 in the province by Festivals & Events Ontario.
“The calibre of the events (here) is why people will get in the car to visit,” said Gordon Orr, CEO of Tourism Windsor, Essex, Pelee Island. “(Being one of the best festivals) raises awareness to the sort of events in our own backyard.”
Art in the Park, which is held June 2 and 3 at Willstead Manor, got its first nomination even though the festival has been running for 41 years.
“This is an opportunity to get our name out there,” said Renee Pare, chairwoman of Art in the Park. “We are just getting bigger and bigger every year.”
For two years running they’ve had 275 artist booths, wine, food, music and a children’s zone for the 23,000 art enthusiasts who peruse the pottery, crafts and jewelry.
The Shores of Erie International Wine Festival in Amherstburg saw an average of 20,000 visitors to its four-day festival featuring wine, food and entertainment.
Being selected as one of the province’s top 100 festivals is a prestigious honour for the seven-year-old festival, said Kelly O’rourke, festival director.
“It’s recognizing festival excellence,” O’rourke said. “We are being recognized in the same breath as Oktoberfest in Kitchener and Bayfest in Sarnia.”
Carrousel of the Nations, River Lights Winter Festival in Amherstburg, the Tecumseh Corn Festival in Tecumseh and the Windsor International Film Festival were also selected as top 100 events in Ontario.
Orr said each festival plays to its homegrown strengths. The corn festival features locally grown corn. The wine festival showcases the products produced by 11 area wineries. Carrousel takes pride in the diversity of cultures in the region, Orr said.
“The festivals celebrate the products that are grown right here,” he said.
All of the festivals recognized run for several days, which gives tourists a reason to make the area an overnight destination, Orr said.
Pare said her festival does annual surveys and it shows that many people go year after year and come from Quebec and the U.S. O’rourke said 14 per cent of attendees are from outside Ontario.
“We regularly advertise up the corridor to Toronto and get people from Michigan and Ohio,” she said.