The North was well represented during the 2018 Festivals & Events Ontario (FEO) Achievement Awards.
Held March 2 during the FEO’s annual conference in Hamilton, the awards ceremony acknowledges festivals and events that stood out through the year.
Thunder Bay’s new event, Live on the Waterfront, was named Best New Festival or Event ($100,001 to $500,000).
Additionally, a pair of Northerners was inducted into the FEO Hall of Fame: Guy Lamarche, manager of tourism and events for the City of Timmins, and Stephen Hollingshead, former director of Tourism North Bay.
FEO was established in 1987 as an association devoted to the growth and stability of the festival and event industry in Ontario. FEO supports a lively, engaged and dedicated festival and events industry by sharing knowledge, enabling networking and providing leadership on education, advocacy and promotion.
The festivals and events industry in Ontario is estimated to generate in excess of $2.3 billion annually in contribution to regional GDP, create/sustain approximately 50,000 full-year-equivalent jobs, and foster approximately $1 billion in taxes at all levels of government.
