The Province of Prince Edward Island is pleased to provide funding to develop a three-year strategy and business plan in support of the Festival of Small Halls, announced the Honourable Neil LeClair, Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development.
Funding will be provided to Small Halls Inc., the non-profit organization which helped organize two highly successful, Island-wide events last year – The Festival of Small Halls (June 2008) and the Christmas season follow-up – Deck the Small Halls (December 2008).
“The three-year strategy and supporting business plan will position the Festival of Small Halls and Deck the Small Halls as key Island-wide shoulder-season tourism, culture and community events that take place throughout rural Prince Edward Island,” said Minister LeClair.
“The Festival of Small Halls aimed to reunite musicians, artists and dancers with the places where they got their start – small halls across the Island. Community halls are the focal point and heart of Island rural communities. The Festival of Small Halls worked to restore and upgrade the halls to enable them to reverberate with vibrancy and continue to breathe life into communities,” said Ray Brow, Chair/Founder of the Festival of Small Halls.
The project is a consultative process with an advisory committee that will include representatives from Small Halls Inc., the Association of Rural Community Halls (ARCH), and the Province of Prince Edward Island.
ARCH was established in 2008 to serve as a unified voice of community halls across PEI. It’s mandate is to foster dialogue among halls in the spirit of sharing knowledge and strengthening communities. ARCH is a also a way for community halls to work together and reduce their operational costs through purchasing power and group buys.
“We look forward to this process resulting in events like the Festival of Small Halls to help make community halls focal points in our rural communities,” said Leonard Russell, Chairperson of the Association of Rural Community Halls.
The initiative will benefit from the fact that well-known music event organizer, Steve Horne, formerly the Executive Director of the East Coast Music Association, has been hired to assist with the project.
The inaugural Festival of Small Halls was a celebration of exceptional music, art and dance across Prince Edward Island, and showcased a stellar line up of Island and Atlantic Canadian performers with 49 shows over nine days in 16 small halls throughout the province (including the Northumberland Ferries) from June 14 to 22, 2008. The Festival of Small Halls was nominated for ECMA 2009 Event of the Year. Deck the Small Halls was an Island-wide market of homemade goods and Christmas activities held in various community halls across the Island in December.
Any small halls interested in hosting either of these events should contact Connor O’Callaghan, Festival of Small Halls Researcher at info@smallhalls.com or leave a message at (902) 892-2308.
For more information on the Festival of Small Halls or Small Halls Inc., contact Ray Brow, Chair/Founder at ray.brow@smallhalls.com or (902) 393-5166.