Festival Players Announces New and Expanded Partnerships with Local Businesses

FESTIVAL PLAYERS OF PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY is happy to announce new and expanded partnerships with local businesses for exciting and unique theatre experiences including culinary picks, a new platform to hear local stories and more pay-what-you-can performances. Single tickets, Subscription Passes, and accommodation and dining packages, are now available online at www.festivalplayers.ca.

The theatre experience in Prince Edward County is unlike anything, anywhere else, owing greatly to Festival Players' venue partners. Businesses all across the County welcome performers and audiences alike to enjoy their charming spaces and places.

The first such venue is Huff Estates. Returning as Season Presenting Sponsor in 2014, this award-winning winery will be home to the new Sunday Series @ Huff Estates, a new weekly showcase on Sundays from July 13 - August 24, 2014. Sunday Series @ Huff Estates will feature exciting one-night-only performances ranging from an acclaimed monologist to a fully improvised play, from cabaret en franc?ais to an off-kilter magic show. Audiences will enjoy award-winning wines on a sprawling estate property and, depending on the show, will take in a performance in the tasting room or outdoors under the tent.

Yet another award-winning winery, longtime Festival Players supporter Rosehall Run welcomes theatre lovers to the vineyards for Test Drive, August 5 - 24, 2014, where audiences can enjoy Rosehall Run wines and delicious treats from the County's newest food truck. PICNIC will be on site serving up fresh, local food at every performance. A Picnic-Theatre package is available, including food, wine and show tickets.

Family audiences will get to enjoy the Festival Players Young Company production of All For Beaver Hats! across the County thanks to a number of venue partners including Fifth Town Artisan Cheese, Campbell's Orchards, Sandbanks Summer Village and the Ameliasburgh Historical Museum. Working with these partners to bring children's theatre to the towns and villages of the County makes theatre accessible for all residents across the island.

Of course the first point of contact with Festival Players is the box office. For four years Alexandra Bake, David Sweet and Barbara Burns-Sweet have welcomed Festival Players and their audiences to Books & Company on Main Street in Picton. People can purchase their tickets, browse the fabulous collection in the store and enjoy a treat from Ms. Lily's Cafe?. One stop shopping at its loveliest. Box office hours are Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 5 pm until June 30th. After July 1st, the box office is open seven days a week to the end of the season.

Speaking of food and drink, the audience will get a variety of opportunities to enjoy fresh, local-made food at a number of Festival Players events in 2014. Be it concessions at the theatres themselves, catering at the opening nights or as part of the spread at fundraising events, whether it's scrumptious baked goods or lively wines, yummy artisanal cheeses and meats or fresh local produce, Festival Players partners promise to impress. Food producers and chefs working with Festival Players this season include PINCIC food truck, the Hubb Eatery and Lounge at Angeline's, Milford Bistro, The Regent Cafe?, chef Sebastien Schwab and Huff Estates, Rosehall Run and Barley Days Brewery.

Festival Players is thrilled to announce a new partnership with 99.3 COUNTY FM, the County's community radio station. Following most performances of Radio :30, join 99.3 FM in the theatre for a live recording with a local storyteller which will be aired on the station when it launches in the fall. This partnership with 99.3

COUNTY FM will create some of the first content that will be heard on their airwaves.

This year, more than ever before, audiences will be able to enjoy the unique Festival Players experience as Sandbanks Summer Village supports the Pay-What-You-Can Program. At select performances of Test Drive, Radio :30 and All for Beaver Hats!, the audience will have the opportunity to choose their own ticket price, removing the barrier of price and inviting new audiences to the theatre. Essroc Italcementi Group joins as a Community Access Partner, donating tickets to All For Beaver Hats! to local families in need. These programs help to ensure that everyone in the community has the opportunity to delight in this ubiquitous summer entertainment.

It is because of the support of local business that these new experiences and opportunities can be provided to audiences in Prince Edward County. A host of other individuals and companies, including Elizabeth Crombie of Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty, Ton-Up Creative, Michael Grills Photography, The Great Waterway, KA Media, Quinte Broadcasting and Classical 96.3, Loch Sloy Holdings and Christine Henden of Remax, have generously contributed to the ongoing success of Festival Players and all of their programs and events. It takes a community to make live professional theatre happen and Festival Players is grateful to have such a vibrant community to live, work and play in.

For details of the full Festival Players 2014 Season, please visit: www.festivalplayers.ca.

FESTIVAL PLAYERS OF PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY is a professional summer theatre company led by Artistic Director Sarah Phillips. For eight years, Festival Players has brought the beautiful landscapes, towns and villages of Prince Edward County, affectionately called The County, to life through the incredible power of theatre. Whether in a charming church theatre or nestled in the vineyards, Festival Players audiences are treated to an unforgettable theatre experience each and every summer.

FESTIVAL PLAYERS
Of PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY

SUNDAY SERIES @ HUFF ESTATES

July 13 - August 24, 2014
7pm
Huff Estates Inn and Winery
2274 County 1 Road, Hallowell, Ontario Schedule: www.festivalplayers.ca/the-sunday-series

RADIO :30

July 22 - August 3, 2014
Mount Tabor Playhouse
2179 County Road 17, Milford, Ontario
Performances Tuesday - Saturday at 8pm, plus Friday matinees at 2pm July 25, at 2pm: Pay-What-You-Can, supported by Sandbanks Summer Village

FESTIVAL PLAYERS FOR FAMILIES: All for Beaver Hats!

August 1-3, 2014, 11am
Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co., 4309 County Road 8, Cressy, Ontario

August 8-10, 2014, 11am
Part of Live in Bloomfield - A Festival of Theatre and Other Delights Bloomfield Millpond Park, Brick Street in Bloomfield, Ontario

August 12, 2014, 11am
Sandbanks Summer Village, 393 County Road 18, East Lake, Ontario Pay-What-You-Can, supported by Sandbanks Summer Village

August 15 - 17, 2014, 11am
Campbell's Orchards, 1633 County Road 3, Rednersville, Ontario

August 18, 2014, 11am
Sandbanks Summer Village, 393 County Road 18, East Lake, Ontario Pay-What-You-Can, supported by Sandbanks Summer Village

August 22-24, 2014, 11am
Ameliasburgh Historical Museum, 517 County Road 19, Ameliasburgh, Ontario

TEST DRIVE

August 5 - 24, 2014
Rosehall Run Vineyards
1243 Greer Road, Wellington, Ontario
Performances Tuesday - Sunday at 6:30pm, plus Friday matinees at 1:30pm Friday, August 8 at 1:30pm: Pay-What-You-Can, supported by Sandbanks Summer Village

Tickets are $29.90 + HST (Senior, Youth and Group Discounts Available) Three Ticket Flex Pass Subscriptions are $80.75 + HST (10% savings) Eight Ticket Season Pass Subscriptions are $203.00 + HST (15% savings)

Tickets for Festival Players for Families are $10 + HST
Tickets and passes available:
In-Person at Books & Company at 289 Main Street, Picton, Ontario Online at www.festivalplayers.ca or by phone at 613.476.1991 / 1.866.584.1991

Facebook.com/FestivalPlayers @FestivalPlayers

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