The Edmonton Festival City in a Box program launched earlier this spring with corporate partner, TransAlta.  This was Greater Edmonton’s tourism industry first, major investment from a power company.

Edmonton Tourism and the Edmonton Arts Council have welcomed TransAlta as lead sponsor for the new Edmonton Festival City in a Box event attraction program and the new TransAlta Festival City Grant Program which will enhance the scope and success of festivals within the Greater Edmonton area.

Edmonton Festival City in a Box encourages association and executive planners to choose Edmonton as a host city for their meeting or convention by highlighting the theming opportunities around festival entertainment and offers a menu of ideas to theme keynote addresses, breakout sessions, team building, entertainment, décor, catering and reception to this unique brand that reinforces the uniqueness of the host city.  This menu of creative options can be viewed at www.edmonton.com/festivalcity.

A key tool in this program includes the Edmonton Festival City Road Show, a multi-disciplinary arts showcase promoting the region’s finest festival performers. The road shows are customized by client needs and are available to appear at conventions and select tourism markets.  Upcoming road shows include the Gala Opening of the Alberta Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., the Pacific Northwest Region Economic Region’s 16^th Annual Summit, the Canadian Society of Association Executives Annual Conference and Travel Alberta’s Industry Conference. 
 
As lead sponsor, TransAlta has committed to a three-year, $1.2 million investment to the Edmonton arts and tourism community. Funding will be divided equally between the event attraction and grant programs. This investment in Greater Edmonton is believed to be the first time any Canadian tourism region has received a major investment from a power company.

Funds from the TransAlta Festival City Grant Program will be available in three areas - enhanced operational grants, mentoring grants, and consulting grants. Grants are designed to develop stability and national recognition throughout Edmonton's festivals while also building beneficial connections between Edmonton-based festivals and festivals in Northern Alberta. This funding will not only help power the arts sector; it will raise the bar for Edmonton’s diverse range of festivals and set a new benchmark for others in the national and international arts community to reach.