Next year, the Blyth Festival is expanding its schedule, part of a new lineup that will tell stories of both national and local importance.
In a presentation to North Huron council, Artistic Director Gil Garratt told members that there are 98 performances scheduled across four months.
That includes a new show to close out the season, Radio Town: the Doc Cruickshank Story, a play that will celebrate the origins of CKNX.
Garratt says they'll be pushing the season back as a result.
"It will run all the way until September 20th, so we've actually expanded the season to have two more full weeks of performances right into the early fall," he said. "We're hoping that we can also get high schools in there to see the shows, and we're going to run it right across the Threshers, because we know lots of Threshers will want to come and see this celebration of Doc and his amazing legacy."
Garratt also told council that its recently completed 50th season was the most impactful one yet.
The economic impact study conducted by Price Waterhouse Cooper showed that in 2024, visitor spending in the region exceeded $8.1 million.
"Incredibly, what their findings revealed is that 2024, the 50th anniversary of the Blyth Festival, proved to be our largest GDP impact ever," he told council.
Over the course of the season Blyth Festival welcomed over 25,000 patrons to North Huron. Garratt wanted to use that success to get council to explore expanding its co-operation with Blyth Festival to promote tourism.
He said that its time to reinvest in the groups co-operative marketing strategy, as the amount budgeted for that has decreased from $15,000 a year to $5,000.
"I know that budgeting conversations are coming up. I think it's a great time for staff from North Huron to sit down with the Festival staff," he said. "We have an opportunity, I think, to work together and for Blyth Festival to use its expertise and its reach to help the municipality reach its tourism and cultural promotion goals."
Council moved to direct its Economic Development Officer to meet with the Blyth Festival on opportunities to partner with the cooperative marketing budget and to report back as part of the 2025 budget process.