Top 100 festivals and events in Ontario for 2014 announced

Provincial organization recognizes industry leaders

Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO) has announced the 2014 Top 100 Festivals & Events in Ontario, presented by VIA Rail Canada.

These Top 100 recipients represent festivals and events that excel within the industry. Included in the Top 100 are the Festivals & Events of Distinction, a select group which represent some of the most well-known and respected celebrations in the province; celebrations which draw both an international and domestic audience.

Submissions from FEO members were received for consideration in the fall of 2013 and were judged by an independent panel of judges.

Festivals and events of all kinds from every corner of Ontario were represented in the submissions – from community festivals to internationally recognized events. The 2014 Top 100 Awards were given out during FEO’s Annual Conference Excite & Energize in Richmond Hill, ON.

FEO would like to congratulate the 2014 Top 100 Festivals & Events in Ontario:

10th Annual Oshawa Peony Festival (Oshawa) 20th Annual Kingsville Fantasy of Lights Festival (Kingsville) 7th Annual Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament (Brantford) Alight at Night Festival - Upper Canada Village (Morrisburg) Alliston Potato Festival (Alliston) Art in the Park Windsor (Windsor) Bala Cranberry Festival (Bala) Balloonapalooza (Windsor) Barrie Automotive Flea Market (Oro-Medonte) Barrie Winterfest (Barrie) Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival (Toronto) Blue Mountains Apple Harvest Festival (Blue Mountains) Bronte Creek Maple Syrup Festival (Bronte Creek Provincial Park - Oakville) Buckhorn Fine Art Festival (Buckhorn) Burlington's Canada Day Celebrations (Burlington) Burlington's Children's Festival (Burlington) Canada Blooms - The Flower & Garden Festival (Toronto) Canada Day (Ottawa-Gatineau) Canada Day Weekend Celebrations (Harbourfront Centre - Toronto) Canadian National Exhibition (CNE - Toronto) Canal Days Marine Heritage Festival (Port Colborne) Carassauga Festival of Cultures (Mississauga) Carrot Fest (Bradford) Carrousel of the Nations 2013 (Windsor) CIBC Taste of Asia Festival "Canada's Largest Asian Festival" (Markham) Cobourg Sandcastle Festival (Cobourg) Collingwood Elvis Festival (Collingwood) Downtown Milton Street Festival (Milton) Festival Kompa Zouk Ontario (Toronto) First Light (Midland) Friendship Festival (Fort Erie) Havelock Country Jamboree (Havelock) Heritage Mica Days (Tay Valley Township) Hillside Festival (Guelph) Home County Music & Art Festival (London) Huron Fringe Birding Festival (Port Elgin) International Plowing Match (Ontario Plowmen's Association - Guelph) JerkFest (Jerk Food Festival - Toronto) Kempenfest (Barrie) Kirkland Lake Homecoming Week (Kirkland Lake) Kirkland Lake Winter Carnival (Kirkland Lake) Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest (Kitchener) LaSalle Strawberry Festival (LaSalle) Luminato Festival (Toronto) Mariposa Folk Festival (Orillia) Markham Village Music Festival (Markham) Mattawa Voyageur Days (Mattawa) Meaford Scarecrow Invasion & Family Festival (Meaford) Mississauga Waterfront Festival (Mississauga) Mount Forest Fireworks Festival (Mount Forest) Niagara Wine Festival (St. Catharines) Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show (Simcoe) Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival (Orangeville) Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival (Ottawa) Port Elgin Pumpkinfest (Port Elgin) Pride Toronto (Toronto) RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest (Ottawa) Redpath Waterfront Festival Toronto (Toronto) Re-Enactment of the Battle of Stoney Creek (Stoney Creek) Richmond Hill Canada Day Celebrations (Richmond Hill) River Lights Winter Festival (Amherstburg) Rockhound Gemboree (Bancroft) Rockton World's Fair (Rockton) Rogers Cup presented by National Bank (Toronto) SALSA at Blue Mountains (Blue Mountains) Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Festival (Stratford) Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto (Toronto) Shores of Erie International Wine Festival (Amherstburg) Simcoe Christmas Panorama (Simcoe) Sioux Lookout Blueberry Festival (Sioux Lookout) Sound of Music Festival (Burlington) Stratford Festival (Stratford) Summerfolk Music & Crafts Festival (Owen Sound) TASTE Community Grown (Prince Edward County) Taste of the Kingsway Festival (Etobicoke) TD Kitchener Blues Festival (Kitchener) TD Ottawa Jazz Festival (Ottawa) TD Sunfest: "Canada's Premier Celebration of World Cultures" (London) TD Toronto Jazz Festival (Toronto) Tecumseh Corn Festival (Tecumseh) Telling Tales - A Family Festival of Stories (Hamilton) The Art of Eating Food & Wine Festival (Tecumseh) The Kingston Sheep Dog Trials Festival (Kingston) The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (Toronto) The Streetsville Founders' Bread and Honey Festival (Streetsville) The Word on the Street Toronto (Toronto) Tim Hortons Southside Shuffle Blues & Jazz Festival (Mississauga) Toronto Fringe Festival (Toronto) Toronto International Film Festival (Toronto) Toronto RibFest (Toronto) Tweed Tribute to Elvis Festival (Tweed) Vaughan Celebrates: Concerts in the Park (Vaughan) Vaughan Celebrates: Winterfest (Vaughan) Voyageur Winter Carnival (Thunderbay) Western Fair (London) Windsor International Film Festival (Windsor) Windsor Summer Fest (Windsor) Winter Festival of Lights (Niagara Falls) Winterlude (Ottawa-Gatineau) World Heritage Sunset Ceremonies (Fort Henry - Kingston)
Excite & Energize 2014 FEO Conference was held at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel and Suites in Richmond Hill, ON.

About FEO

FEO provides education, marketing and advocacy services and operates Canada's largest dedicated festival and event Conference. FEO also publishes and distributes an annual 250,000 circulation (plus on-line exposure) consumer guide to Ontario festivals & events, another guide to promote its industry supplier goods and services, facilitates industry-leading marketing research, oversees an industry-leading awards recognition program, manages a dynamic on-line website, markets a weekly festivals & events industry news-brief with a distribution exceeding 2,500 email recipients and advocates at the provincial and federal level for an improved operating environment within which its members can successfully conduct their business.
The festivals and events industry in Ontario is estimated to generate in excess of $2 billion annually in contribution to regional GDP, create/sustain in excess of 50,000 full-year-equivalent jobs and foster hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes at all levels of government.

- 30 -

http://www.festivalsandeventsontario.ca/

@FEOntario – 519.537.2226