The Blyth Festival is celebrating one of its strongest years on record, wrapping up a 2025 summer season that saw attendance climb by 16 per cent and audiences coming from across the world.
Artistic Director Gil Garratt said the numbers reflect not only strong programming but the deep sense of community that continues to fuel the Festival’s success. "We had so many people coming out, 25,000 tickets this season," said Garratt. "We had folks who had never been to Blyth before. Brand new audiences, which was so thrilling."
Among the season’s biggest successes were Radio Town: The Doc Cruickshank Story and Emma Donoghue’s The Wind Coming Over the Sea, both world premieres that struck a chord with audiences. "Radio Town was just a huge hit," said Garratt. "We had people pouring out for that one, seeing friends and neighbours and folks they remembered being represented on stage."
Donoghue’s play, which explored Irish immigration to Canada, drew first-time theatre-goers from across North America. "To see this true story rooted in Irish and Ontarian history met with such warmth by audiences today was profoundly moving," Donoghue said in a statement released by the Festival.
For Garratt, the Festival’s success this year goes beyond ticket sales. "This was an awesome season for the amount of focus on community," he said. "People are always talking about the epidemic of loneliness. Well, just down the road in the village of Blyth, there’s 379 seats where people escape that loneliness and sit together to listen to stories and songs about the place where they live."
The 2025 season also saw the return of the Blyth Festival Young Company, the theatre’s youth outreach program that gives rural teens free professional training. A new year-round version of the program launched this fall, offering ongoing opportunities for young artists to connect and collaborate.
Garratt says the Festival is already deep into planning for next year. "We’re putting together next season right now," he said. "We’re going to have some local singer-songwriters helping to create new shows, and we’ll tell stories set right here in this community. Stories on the farm, stories about local life. When you walk through the doors of Blyth, you’re going to recognize yourself and your neighbours on stage."
Before the next season begins, the Festival is turning its attention to the holidays with the return of A Huron County Christmas Carol, opening December 3. “If you haven’t seen it, this is A Christmas Carol set in 2025 in Huron County,” Garratt explained. “Scrooge has bought up every feed mill from Windsor to Tobermory and has all the farmers under his thumb. Then, on Christmas Eve, he’s visited by three ghosts who help him see the error of his ways.”
Featuring Randy Hughson as Scrooge, Brontae Hunter of Kincardine in her Festival debut, and nine-year-old Goldie Garratt as Tiny Tilly, the production will bring a local twist to Dickens’ classic tale.
Tickets for A Huron County Christmas Carol are on sale now at blythfestival.com, with the full cast announcement expected soon.
