The Blyth Festival has announced its first ever year-end fundraising campaign, aiming to raise $50,000 by December 31 to support the development of new Canadian plays and provide financial support for local artists.
The campaign calls on audiences, local businesses, and first-time donors to help ensure the future of Canadian storytelling. Since 1975, the Festival has been Canada’s only professional theatre company dedicated entirely to commissioning, developing, and producing new Canadian work.
"Blyth from the very, very beginning, felt this imperative to put local stories on stage," said Artistic Director Gil Garratt. "If we don't tell our own stories on stage, who else is going to?"
"It's been a time for us to try to really understand each other. And I think that through our own stories, both as artists telling them from the stage and as audiences hearing them from the house, I think that it changes the way that we think about each other. And that's really, really powerful," Garratt added. “What we’ve built here in Blyth isn’t just a summer season — it’s a living record of who we are as Canadians. Every time someone gives to this Festival, they’re helping protect our ability to tell our own stories in our own voices. And right now, those voices need all of us. "
Rising costs and declining public funding for the arts has prompted the Festival to reach out to a wider community to join its core of supporters.
At the heart of the Festival’s campaign is a commitment to cultural sovereignty, emphasizing that Canadian stories are central to national identity and independence.
“In a moment when Canadian culture is being nudged aside by louder, wealthier systems, it matters that we continue to tell our own stories,” Garratt added. “Our stories aren’t a luxury. They’re how we understand who we are — and how we stay connected to one another.”
Recent research highlights the economic importance of the arts sector across Canada. In 2024, the sector contributed $65 billion directly to the national economy and supported 1.1 million jobs. In Ontario alone, the arts generated over $60 billion in GDP and supported 458,000 jobs. Rural communities play a significant role in this landscape, with nearly one-third of Canada’s arts organizations located outside urban centers, often operating with smaller budgets and fewer staff.
"The arts sector across the country makes an enormous contribution to our GDP in terms of employing people, creating tax revenues for the government, and creating spin-off revenue in the communities that host these kinds of organizations, said Fundraising and Communications Strategist Joanne Wallace. "The numbers attached to the Blyth Festival are that every dollar that is spent on a ticket spins out into $9 of impact in the local economy. So, that's pretty significant."
Over the last six seasons, Blyth has generated nearly $30 million in GDP impact and created more than 350 jobs in Huron County. Despite these contributions, federal investment in the arts has declined, and Canadians donate a smaller portion of their income to the sector than peer countries. Many rural arts organizations are struggling to keep pace with inflation, rising production costs, and increasing demand for cultural programming.
Funds raised through the appeal will support commissioning and developing new Canadian plays, paying theatre artists, and sustaining the Festival’s New Play Development Program, which has produced works such as The Drawer Boy, The Pigeon King, The New Canadian Curling Club, and this year’s hit, Emma Donoghue’s The Wind Coming Over the Sea.
Wallace shared that the campaign was just launched recently and is already gaining momentum. She added that their donors are amazing, and the community support is heartwarming. She pointed to a recent visit to their Office Manager from an occasional supporter.
"He walked into the office two days ago, with an envelope, handed it to her and said, 'This is my gift for the campaign, '" Wallace continued. "She opened it and found a cheque for $5,000 in there!"
While the Festival’s membership program continues to grow, this campaign marks the first time the organization has invited its entire community, including those who have never donated before, to contribute.
“Blyth has always been a place where ordinary people come together to do something extraordinary,” Garratt says. “If you can help, even a little, you’re part of ensuring Canada keeps its own voice.”
Donations can be made online at blythfestival.com, by mail, or by calling 1-877-862-5984. Gifts made by December 31 will receive a 2025 charitable tax receipt, and phones will be staffed until December 21.
