Stratford: Setting The Stage for A Year-Round Tourist Economy

Stratford’s National and International Reputation As Canada’s Festival City was no accident.

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Sale the Stratford Festival’s Inception in the Early 1950s, the Overarching Vision of its leaders has been national venture that boasts an international reach.

That aspiration from its very beginning as the stratford shakespearean festival of canada has helped define the stratford of the 20th and 21st centuries. Once a Small City Known as A Railway HUB, Stratford Became – and Still is – A Cultural Destination.

“There’s pictures of a Billboard that (Filnder Festival) Tom Patterson Bough in Times Square in 1953 Advertising the Festival. . . . The Thought was, ‘We inviting the World to Stratford, and we doing Something Special in Particular here,’ ”Said Anita Gaffney, The Festival’s Executive Director.

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With the Non-Profit Stratford Festival AS AN ANCHOR, The City WELCOMES MORE THAN 1.7-MILLION TOURTS EVERY YEAR, Representing A Massive Economic Impact for the Region. AS of March 2024, The Had Entertaite More Than 297-Million Patrons and Solde More than $ 1 Billion in Tickets. During the 2023 Season, While Still Coping with the Fallout of the COVVI-19 Pandemic, The Festival Generated More That $ 276.7 Million in Economic Spending.

This included $ 147.3 Million Spent Locally, an 11 per cent Increase from 2017. During that 2023 Season, 46 per cent of Visitors who arrives from outside the city thing to Stay Overnight in Stratford, with an average length of stay approving three nights.

“I think that people come here because they can get (the experience) AnyWherere Else. It’s a realory company, so people have the chance to see many productions over a short period of time. You have this World-Class Theater in a Pastoral Setting With Beautiful Parklands and Wonderful Restaurants, ”Gaffney Said.

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While Not Having the Same Cultural Footprint AS The Festival, Stratford Summer Music Has Become Another Major Draw During the City’s Traditional Tourist Season, Bringing in Renowned National and International Performers Like the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Vienna Boys’ Choir. With Dozens of Performances at Venues Throughout the City, included Stratford’s Famous Musical Barge, Stratford Summer Music Welcome More Than 10,000 Visitors Every Year During Its Four-Wek Run in July and August.

While these cultural offerings are the Main Drivers Bringing Visitors to the Festival City, there are Many Other City Amenitites that help convinc people to stay long and Enjoy these Top-Notch Performances, Stratford Summer Music Executive Director Crystal Spicecer Said.

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“For me, when i’m going places, i look at what am i gooi to do, where am i gooi to eat, and where am i gooir to stay? (Stratford has) Fantastic Places to Stay at a very Wide Range of Prices. You have so many different types of Culinary Experiences to choose from. Then, you have all this art and culture gooir around, and you have this Incredible Park System to go for a walk in, and the city is beautiful, ”Spicer Said.

“I think Stratford as a Whole has a lot to offer tourist coming to visit us.”

But when the temperatures drop in the winter months and the curtain Falls on the Stratford Festival, where do these visitors go? AS The Executive Director of Destination Stratford, Zac Gribble Obviously Hopes It’s Right Back here.

It’s a hope that has informed recent efforts to transform stratford into a year-round destination.

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“Our focus over the last number of years, eSpecially What We Learned in the Pandemic Crisis, Has Been. . . On Year-Round Opportunities for Developing Tourism and, in Our Case, It’s Stratford Arts and Culture that benfits Our Residents, AS Well as Provids Opportunity for Visitors and Local Businesses, ”Gribble Said.

The Biggest Recent Event for Destination Stratford is its Lights on Stratford Festival, Which Welcomes Visitors in December and January. Founded During the Pandemic, Lights on Stratford has been enormous successful its ITS IRCESS, WELCOMING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF VISITORS EACH YEAR, Including A Staggering 76,000 During the 2023-2024 Season.

With Canada in the Midst of A Trade War with its closest Ally, Gibble SEES AN OPPORTUNITY, and is “Feeling Quite Optimistic,” About Stratford and its Future when It Comes to the Visitor Economy. The City’s Rental is a major advantage, Gribble Explained.

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“WE’RE ONE HOUR AWAY BY CAR FOR OVER A MILLION PEOPLE AND, IF YOU EXTEND THAT RADIUS TO THREE HOURS, IT’S OVER 14 MILLION PEOPLE. That’s a lot of Population Density, and we think that Stratford has a really unique offering, and that offering extends throughout the entitre Year, ”he said.

Jamie Pritchard, General Manager of the Downtown Stratford Business Improvement Area, agrees with that feeling.

“I think that as we look at tariffs, i want to be spending my money in canada. I don’t want to be spending it in the us I know people that had some trips planned to the us and have cancelled them. Personally, i was supposed to go down there on saturday, and the day cancelled those plans. I Just Think We Need to Be Staying in Canada and spending Our money in Canada, ”Pritchard Said.

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Among the efforts to make the city a year-round tourism destination while expanding its reach, stratford summer music has developed two series. The Brew Stage Series is Hosted Three Times A Year at Stratford’s Job Site Brewing Co, While the Educational Side-By-Side Series-This Year, Re-Branded As the Side-by Side Winter Bach 3.0-Features Musicians from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the University of Toronto’s Music.

Stratford Summer Music also presented a Holiday concert this past year and is look to offer one again During the 2025 Holiday Season.

“It’s a big part of our mandate to really try and offered some off-season programming. Our Core Summer Music Festival – The Four Weeks that we offered During the Summer – That’s Our Flagship Music Festival that is going to remain, but then we look look at building on that, “Spicer Said.

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Like Destination Stratford, the Stratford Festival also used the covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity to raise its national and international profile through the development of its stratfest@home streaming service. Since the festival had, since 2012, been filming all of its shakespearean productions, it already had an impressive catalog of films ready to go when gathering restrictions derailed its 2020 Season. The Service has since Expanded to Offer Rafts of Original Programming.

Not Only has this allowed Regular Audience Members to Connect with the Festival in A New Way, it has also Busht in New Fans, Including one couple from California who Only Discovered Stratford Through the Streaming Service, Gaffney Said

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“They Got Turned on Stratford. They Thought, ‘What is this place?’ And they now come and spend a couple of weekes here every year. Sometimes it’s hard for people to understand what Stratford is unit they come, ”She Said.

Of Race, Building the City Into An Enduring Destination WOULD NOT BE Possible without New and Existing Partnerships. According to Gibble, destination Stratford is involved in Hundreds of Partnerships, included through the popular chocolate, Bacon & Ale and Christmas Trails.

The bia has also partnered with destination Stratford on its development funds and served as a gold sponsor of lights on stratford.

These Partnerships Often Involve Multiple Organization Working Together. The Recent Kray-Ler Trailers Events for the Kroehler Girls Musical Involved A Collaboration Between the Stratford Perth Museum, Destination Stratford and Local Singer-Songwriter Dayna Manning, who Penned New Music for the Production. The museum has also party with the festival on a number of popular exhibits, include the current To Thine Own Self, Which Showcases Gender and Cultural Diversity Over the History of the Festival.

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One recent collaboration that gibble is particular proud of is a partnership with stratford summer music and the stratford festival to Bring nyx, a London, England-Based Electronic Drone Choir, to the Tom Patterson Theatre to Close Out this Year’s Lights on Stratford. Both Spicer and Gaffney Pointed to this Event as an Example of What can be when these groups work in concert.

“That’s a Major Undertaking. The Partners All Rose to This Challenge, and we made it happen. This is the Type of Partnership that can really meaningfully move the needle when it comes to Shoulder-Season Activations, ”Gribble Said.

The Stratford Festival has long considered marketing stratford as a destination as part of its role, gaffney said

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“The theatre Might be the Hook for People Coming to Stratford, but it’s not a place with a Whole Bunch of Name-Brand Accomdators and Restaurants, and so we Really include (Local Information) in our marketing materials. . . . We Try to introduce people to the Whole Experience of Coming to Stratford because we know that that beauty of it.

“It’s a theater AlongSide This Incredible Cosmopolitan Community, but it’s a small Town that has all those wonderful attributes.”

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