Duane Hicks
A $9,000 grant announced by the Canada Arts Presentation Fund last week will help the local “tour de Fort” concert series with a marketing revamp for its upcoming season.
“It’s going to go a long way to help us, particularly with our re-branding that’s coming up,” Ken Avis, vice-president and programmer of “tour de Fort,” said Friday.
With passport sales having declined this season and last, Avis said the “tour de Fort” board felt it was time to get a fresh new marketing approach heading into its 19th season, which will run from April, 2010 to March, 2011.
“The money not necessarily is going to offset our declining passports. We’re still holding our own,” stressed Avis.
“But some of the funding is going to go towards better marketing,” he explained.
Avis said “tour de Fort” is preparing to launch a new logo and website, along with a new look for print advertising, brochures, and passports.
“The whole nine yards—it’s a complete and total re-brand,” he remarked, adding that in regards to their website, they want to update it, use it to its full potential, and make information more readily available to existing passport-holders and new ones.
Apart from the marketing makeover, the rest of the money will go into “tour de Fort” coffers to bring in the highest quality performers they can, added Avis.
“We’re staying with the Canadian concept that we’ve always had—we’re just upping the ante, so to speak.”
Avis said this was the first time “tour de Fort” applied for this particular funding. The application was submitted last March and after nine months, Avis and other board members were happy to hear the good news.
“We had our fingers crossed, big-time,” he admitted. “It took a long time, as most government things do, to come through and actually get the approval going.
“But what did surprise us was the amount,” Avis noted. “That was more than what we were actually hoping for, so we’re very pleased with that.”
The Canada Arts Presentation Fund (formerly the Arts Presentation Canada program) of the Department of Canadian Heritage gives Canadians increased access to the variety and richness of Canada’s culture through professional arts festivals, presentations of live professional performances, and other artistic experiences.
“[The Department of] Canadian Heritage is great,” Avis enthused. “It’s not only us they’ve helped out.
“Now that I have been involved with ‘tour de Fort’ for a few years, I am amazed at how much they actually do help support the arts in Canada.
“It’s unbelievable how much money goes into that, and I think it’s a great thing,” Avis continued.
“It goes a long way to arts and culture, whether it’s in a city or a small community like ours.”
“The 19th-annual ‘tour de Fort’ concert series will provide residents and tourists in Fort Frances and the Rainy River District with quality, Canadian-focused professional entertainment,” federal Heritage minister James Moore said in a press release last week.
“Our government is proud to invest in the upcoming season, which will feature performances by six emerging and established artists from across Canada, and includes both music and theatre arts,” he noted.
In related news, passports for the 2010-11 “tour de Fort” season will be for sale at the next concert, “He Sang, She Sang,” a two-person Broadway music show, coming up Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Townshend Theatre.
They also are available at the Fort Frances Public Library, from Kevin Nielson at Shoppers Drug Mart here, or by calling 274-5351.
