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York Region Arts Council launches Festival Trail for Canada's 150th
YRAC makes announcement at annual general meeting in Stouffville

YorkRegion.com
May 3, 2017
Ali Raza

The York Region Arts Council (YRAC) wants to highlight arts and culture in the region this summer, and it’s doing it with the launch of its 2017 York Region Festival Trail.

Dubbed "Celebrating Canada 150" to coincide with the country’s 150th anniversary, the Festival Trail features 30 events across York Region in summer and fall. YRAC made the announcement at its annual general meeting at the Lebovic Centre for Arts and Entertainment (19 on the Park) in Stouffville on May 1.

“We have 30 festival event members joining us on the trail,” said YRAC executive director Samantha Wainberg. “It will highlight our region’s rich cultural diversity, artistic excellence, and innovation.”

The Festival Trail will be promoted and shared through an extensive marketing campaign with the objective to “raise the profile of events across the region” as per YRAC’s mandate of making York Region an arts and culture destination.

York Region artists and organizers were at the meeting to share their own talents in association with the Festival Trail. Stouffville-based Motus O Dance Theatre will perform at the Markham Fair (one of the Festival Trail events) and Richmond Hill-based Cosmo Music will kick off the trail with CosmoFEST on Saturday, June 3.

A 20-page publication, "York Region Summer Senses," will be released May 18. It will feature a full and detailed map of the Festival Trail with other York Region arts and culture information. YRAC plans to distribute 75,000 copies in Toronto and Montreal via the Globe and Mail, while an additional 5,000 copies will be distributed through York Region.

A Festival Trail smartphone app is also being developed by Newmarket-based web design and development company Treefrog Inc.

In consistence with the Canada 150 theme, YRAC is also launching a fundraising effort called 150x150.

“We’re trying to get 150 people each to donate $150,” Wainberg said. “In support of professional development programs for York Region artists and art administrators.”

YRAC isn’t only asking for a donation, it will collect responses to “why it’s important to support arts and culture in York Region” from donors, hoping to create a list of 150 reasons to support arts and culture in the region.