Thank you.
Thank you for the invitation to appear. I am the CEO of the Luminato Festival, which is Toronto's festival of arts, culture, and creativity. I'd also like to thank you right off the top because for the past four years Luminato has been supported by the Canadian arts presentation fund, through the Department of Canadian Heritage, for which we are very grateful. This has been vital support, allowing us to present hundreds of Canadian artists from across the country and then in turn share them with the world.
Luminato is an annual festival in Toronto that celebrates the creative spirit by presenting hundreds of events in theatre, dance, music, visual arts, food, film, magic, and literature. I know that's a mouthful, but art does not evolve in isolation, so our festival promotes the exciting products that come from this kind of creative collaboration.
We operate for 10 days each June and we transform parks, theatres, squares, and public spaces of Toronto. Landmark productions come to town, marquee events give public concerts, and festival-goers are invited to explore the city and experience what we have dubbed accidental encounters with art. That's largely because a majority of our events are free to the public, and making art accessible and participatory has been a key part of our mandate.
We also aim to reflect Toronto and the region's diverse community in our programming, which is from around the globe, in the volunteers who give of their time, in the audiences who come to our events, and in giving back to some of Canada's most highest needs neighbourhoods through education outreach initiatives.
Our festival programming is curated to present high-calibre art that wouldn't otherwise have a chance to be seen in Ontario or Canada. In 2011 we presented 800 artists from 7 provinces and 28 different countries, all brought together in the spirit of celebrating creative diverse spirit.
One of the most important roles we play in the cultural landscape, similar to what Anita alluded to, is as a commissioner and a partner in developing new Canadian and international work from both established and emerging artists. Luminato has become one of the most active commissioning bodies in Canada, presenting works in their North American or world premiers. Often these works then go on to tour abroad, taking the stamp “Made in Canada” with them when they go and promoting our country and our region as a vibrant cultural centre in which to live, work, and play.
We've come therefore to play a significant role within the region's tourism and cultural sectors, annually reaching around one million festival-goers. And we have become in only five short years a highly anticipated part of the spring festival season for both residents and visitors.
This past June we celebrated our fifth anniversary, and thanks to strong partnerships from our corporate, private and individual, and government stakeholders we're already one of the largest multi-arts festivals in North America.
I'm here today representing Luminato and to discuss the sesquicentennial, but also in my position as a member of the executive for our new national association of Festivals and Major Events, or FAME. I know that last week you heard from our colleague, André Picard, from Just for Laughs, so I won't provide too much further background on FAME, other than to say we are a member-driven and member-funded organization and we do represent the largest events and festivals in the country.
Festivals have the capability to transform their communities and bring people together in a spirit of social unity, and we're an industry that drives tourism and social engagement and is already active in over 308 ridings across this country. On behalf of myself and I'm sure of my colleagues, really our message here today is that we are willing and able to come to the table to help ensure the success of this important 150th celebration undertaking.
I agree with Anita that we already have the networks, the partnerships, many of the community connections, and obviously the activities that could be leveraged to expand this message's reach into many markets. Many of us already have close working relationships with the Department of Canadian Heritage in our regions. And I would echo as well Anita's comment about our marketing, our program, and our educational abilities.
Festivals like Luminato already play a key role in supporting national and regional celebrations. Our involvement directly helped Toronto win the bid to host the 2011 Indian international film awards, and we were joined in that effort by another FAME member, the Toronto International Film Festival. We in turn together created a regional focus on South Asian culture.
We're also intimately involved with the region's 1812 bicentennial commemoration activities, as well as the 2015 Pan American and Parapan Games when they come to Ontario.
We know how important cultural activities are. As we saw at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, more people took part in the peripheral cultural happenings than in sporting events.
In our view, there were several key elements that helped contribute to the success of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games as a cultural catalyst.
One is a central organizing body. Designating one body that has the respect and the legitimacy within the sectors to coordinate activities was, we believe, very important. It had a national scope, which obviously this new celebration has to have. While Vancouver was the focus, the torch relay and the subsequent community events ensured that it was a truly national celebration. How can we promote similar regional celebrations and also regional exchange?
Also, there is the buildup of excitement. It takes years to develop and prepare cultural product to be of the highest international calibre. Just as it took years for VANOC to put together the program, we think it's going to take years to build the relationships and the awareness of a sesquicentennial celebration.
Another very important learning from the Vancouver games would be to seize opportunities to promote Canadian culture abroad. As our friends at the Tourism Industry Association of Canada have shared with you, there's an incredible interest in Canada right now, and our national brand has never been stronger. We can sustain that brand by highlighting the rich, diverse cultural offerings and exporting our cultural product to new markets.
We know that the reach and the impact of Canada's centennial in 1967 was monumental. It was a fantastic impetus for investing in what are now landmark cultural buildings across the country—bricks and mortar. That was much-needed hardware. Perhaps a far-reaching legacy for Canada 150 is an equally ambitious program to invest in what I call the “software”, the landmark cultural content that will now fill these buildings and share our stories with one another and create a different kind of legacy.
Just as the centennial marked a new stage of national confidence and pride in a Canadian cultural identity from coast to coast to coast, perhaps the legacy of 2017 should take the next step and promote a new level of Canadian cultural identity and confidence across the globe. I would encourage the committee to think boldly about what legacy will be felt in content and in Canadian programming for years afterwards.
What programs could be put in place to encourage a national exchange of art, culture, and ideas? What incentives might help drive Canadians to explore new regions of their own country? Festivals and events can be the catalysts that provide exciting things for people to see and do once they arrive. How can we engage our international partners, embassies, and consulates and invite them to help us celebrate here at home and around the world?
I'd like to close by highlighting that what we're talking about is creating those iconic Canadian moments that festivals such as ours are already in the business of making a reality. We're very excited and engaged to come to the table. We plan on working towards having arts and culture from every province represented in our 2017 festival. We look forward to working with you to make the 150th celebration an incredible success.
Thank you.