Staff
Tour de Fort is one of three district groups which recently got a boost in funding from the federal government. And while the money has helped them out with this upcoming season, they’ll need to sell more passports to ensure there will be a 2012-13 season.
The local “Tour de Fort” concert series got $8,000 from the Canada Arts Presentation Fund while “Kids and Co.,” a family performing artists series here, landed $6,000.
The Atikokan Entertainment Series received $7,500 from that same fund.
Tour de Fort president Ken Avis said the $8,000, which organizers applied for in April 2010 and were notified they would be getting at the beginning of the year, will be used for “audience development.”
Avis noted the 2011-12 budget was increased to bring in “bigger name acts” to “generate ticket sales” and it’s likely the bulk of the funds will be put towards this. “That’s where we’ve been failing the last few years. We’re just having a hard time getting people to buy passports ahead of time, which we have to do to be able to book for (the season ahead). Everything we do is 18 months ahead of time, and it’s very difficult to do that (without passport sales),” he added.
Avis said as of yesterday, about 150 passports for the 2011-12 season have been sold. The seating capacity of the Townshend Theatre is 430.
“If I could sell 400 passports, I would be in my glory,” he remarked.
“With 150 sold, and with the eight grand from the government and whatnot, we’ll have enough money to pay our bills. We will not have enough money to go forward with our 2012-13 season,” added Avis. “Our Ontario contact, where we make most of the choices for the following year’s seasons come up in October, and by January, we’ve usually made firm commitments as to who to book.
“If we don’t have the $10,000-12,000 sitting in the bank, over and above what we need to cover our current expenses, we can’t book,” he remarked. “And that’s where we’re going to run into trouble.”
Avis stressed Tour de Fort really needs to sell a minimum of 300 passports ahead of time to “even consider going into our 2012-13 season.”
“We’re all good for our 2011-12 season, no worries there. Everything will be going ahead as normal no matter how many or how few passports we sell,” he reiterated. “But for us to progress past that, we really have to sell (at least 300 passports) this year.”
Avis mentioned that in the past, the group has had reserve funds in the bank because Tour De Fort did so well for so many years.
“But those have been pretty much spent over the past three-four seasons that we’ve had a had time, which is unfortunate but that’s the reality of it,” he said.
This season’s lineup includes: Dave Carroll (Sept. 22, 2011), Good Lovelies (Oct. 20, 2011), Crash Test Dummies (Nov. 15, 2011), Serena Ryder (Feb. 1, 2012), JW Jones (March 24, 2012), and Dala (April 13, 2012).
The public can buy passports right now at www.tourdefort.com/tickets.php
Passports are currently on sale for $100 until Sept. 1, 2011. After that date, the price goes up to $110.
Tour de Fort has suspended “Pick 3” and individual ticket sales for shows to allow the sales of full season passports. If the passports are not sold out by Sept. 1, they will again initiate the ticket sales.
Meanwhile, Leslie Danielson of “Kids and Co.” said the funding is good news since the concert series relies on it.
“It keeps ‘Kids and Co.’ going,” she remarked. “Our expenses are definitely higher than our revenues that we bring in with the box office.”
She added “Kids and Co.” applies for the grant every year, and has to apply for it two years in advance.
“We want to keep our costs down so we can keep kids coming to the shows,” stressed Danielson, adding the funding is an important part of their budget.
The kids’ entertainment series also gets support from the Ontario Arts Council, as well as 17 local sponsors.
The next “Kids and Co.” season starts Oct. 24 with “Flyin’ Bob,” followed by “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” (Nov. 21), “Anders the Magician” (Feb. 27), and “Project Soul” (April 23).
Passports for 2011-12 season are now on sale.
For more information on the upcoming season’s shows and how to get a passport, call Danielson at 274-6019 or visit www.kidsandco.ca