Choosing Where To Go…

Going to a festival or event is very personal. Where you decide to go will depend on many factors, interests, location, costs, dates, etc. Finding out about festivals and events can be frustrating. Most people want to get value for money spent. Word of month is probably the best way to find out about an event. It’s also a great way to evaluate an event, especially if you trust the person who makes the recommendation. We hope that you use Ontario Festivals Visited as a source. We are always glad to share our experiences. Unfortunately we can’t visit every festival or event in Ontario (we wish we could), but there are over 3,000 of them! So, to help you choose, I am going to give you some tips. These are some of the techniques Judi and I use to make our choices.

1. Event Calendars – There are a number of event directories available on the internet. Here is where you can find three of them: Ontario Visited (http://www.ontariofestivalsvisited.ca/); Festivals and Events Ontario (http://www.festivalsandeventsontario.ca/) and Ontario Tourism (http://www.ontariotravel.net/). We check these first to find festivals or events that we might be interested in visiting.
2. Festival/Event Websites – Most of these calendars have direct links to the different festivals/events that are displayed. So if you find an event that you are interested in, you can go and check out their website.
3. Review Website – Most website will give you enough details to tell what kind of festival or event it is. Information like costs, location, dates and activities. One note of caution, make sure that you are looking at a current site. Many festivals don’t keep their sites up-to-date or have a different site for each year. Some festivals cancel their event but don’t delete their website. Believe me, it can become very confusing if you don’t pay attention to what you are reading.
4. Bad Weather – Check the website to see what there weather policy is. If it is an outdoor event, does it run, rain or shine? Many festivals include this information on their website. If not, you might want to check with the organizers. This was especially true last year with all the awful weather we experienced.
5. Contact Organizers – Where you have any doubt, contact the organizers. Most websites include contact information, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, etc. If they don’t include this information, I would be very leery of going to the event. There many be nothing wrong, but!
6. Internet Articles – Using the Search Engine, “Google” (http://www.google.com/), can be very helpful. If you go to “Google” and type in the name of the festival or event you are interested in, the list that Google gives you should not only include the festivals/events website, but will likely include a list of people who have visited the event and have written about it. These articles will give lots of information, good and bad, about the event you are researching. I always read the articles, especially the negative ones, with a “grain of salt”. Anyway, they will at least give you a sense of the event.

Happy choosing!

Shawn King – SEO Master/Friend

You know how when you first meet someone, you instinctively know whether or not you are going to become friends! Shawn King was one of those people I instantly knew was going to become a friend. It started like any other meeting. A company had purchased the hosting company I was working with and Shawn work for the takeover company. He was in charge of servicing (and calming) the acquired customers. I was one of those who needed calming and Shawn met the challenge! This all happened when I was first establishing my Ontario Festivals Visited website. Frankly, during those first shaky days he went far beyond normal customer service! 

Since those first days he has helped me wind my way through the maze called the internet! Shawn’s expertise is SEO or Search Engine Optimization. He has made a study of how best to optimize websites to obtain maximum results! He has taught me what to look for and how to overcome obstacles. This has helped the Ontario Festivals Visited website become one of the top 3 – 4 websites for the keywords, Ontario festivals and Ontario festivals and events, on all the major search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN). Our traffic count has also gone up steadily. 

And over this time, Shawn and I have become friends, so much so that we are now partnering on several projects. Judi’s fine art website (http://judimcwilliamsfineart.com/) was one of them, but the one closest to my heart is the restructuring of the Ontario Visited Websites. We are working, right now, to make the site the best festival and event website in the world! A tall and daunting task I know, but one I feel worthwhile and, better yet, achievable! The next few years will tell the tale, but with friends like Shawn, who can miss!

Artists’ Series - Edwin Matthews (Artist/Entrepreneur)

This is the sixth in a series about Canadian artists I have know, and worked with.

Many years ago, friends introduced Judi and me to the Buckhorn Wildlife Art Festival (now known as the Buckhorn Fine Art Festival) (website: http://www.buckhornfineart.com/) and to the Gallery-on-the-Lake (website: http://www.galleryonthelake.com/). Judi and I were living in Mississauga at the time. Little did I know then how closely we would become linked to the Festival and Gallery and Edwin Matthews. Edwin was the founder of the festival and owner/creator of Gallery-on-the-Lake. Our relationship started as visitors to both the festival and gallery. It quickly grew to purchasers/art collectors and then, ultimately to representatives of Edwin’s fine art publishing company, Buckhorn Publishing. Edwin was not only a fine artist, but an astute businessman! He built both the art gallery and the publishing company from the ground up. Both became very successful businesses. The energy around the art business to the early to mid-1980 was electrifying and Ed made the most of it. Anytime we visited Ed and the Gallery, the Gallery was a “beehive” of activity! During the years, the Gallery-on-the-Lake was a destination attraction and seemed to be always teeming with enthusiastic visitors! Barbara Matthews (Ed’s wife) and her staff ran the gallery with quite efficiency. At the back of the Gallery were the Buckhorn Publishing offices. Edwin’s own office overlooked scenic Lower Buckhorn Lake. Whenever I visited the offices, I was with a friendly greeting from Ed’s longtime assistant, Penny Beliveau. The publishing company represented many great artist, including Michael Dumas, Edwin himself, Terrence Andrews, Mary Kendrick and, later, in Canada, Terry Redlin. One of my favourite memories of Edwin, was taking an art class from him. Ed convinced Judi and I to join one of his art classes and take a lesson from him. Ed was an excellent teacher and walked us through the different stages of developing a painting, from preparation to framing the finished piece, he taught us all phases. This even included going out to a field location and sketching a scene. Most of his class, Judi included, had painted before, but this was my first (and last) attempt. Ed patiently helped me and I ultimately completed my painting. It may not have been a masterpiece, but it was mine and I hung it proudly in my home for many years. What the lessons really gave me were a greater appreciation of art and artists. Something that has given me a great deal of pleasure for over 25 years! Unfortunately, over the years, circumstances change. Edwin and Barbara eventually decided to retire and they sold both businesses. Edwin has stayed close to the art business since his retirement but now, due to age and ill health he has slowed down from the art scene. His legacy, however, lives on. In 2007, the 30^th anniversary of the Buckhorn Fine Art Festival. Edwin was honoured for his contribution to both the festival and the community of Buckhorn. A tribute fitting for a man dedicated to promoting and improving his craft!

NOTE: Since this article was written, Edwin has passed away. We will miss him.

Stratford Festival

My earliest memory of the Stratford Festival was when I was a kid in public school! Just getting there was a big adventure! My school friends and I excitedly boarded the school bus and then we were off! Back then it seemed like a really long trip, but in reality it was only a few hours. I don’t remember much about the play we saw. I am sure it was one of Shakespeare’s. I do, however, remember the box lunch we were served! I know that all the kids really liked it. I had never experienced anything like it. Over the years I have been back to Stratford and the Stratford Festival many times. Stratford is one of my favourite places to visit. The downtown area is very quaint and the Festival Park area is beautiful. Victoria Lake forms the centre of the park with the Festival Theatre overlooking it. The white swans floating effortlessly across the water add to the park’s peace and majesty. There are plenty of options if you decide to stay overnight, from Bed and Breakfasts to Quaint Inns and everything in between. Of course, staying overnight means “going to the theatre”! The Festival was founded by Tom Patterson in 1953 and has had some of North America’s finest actors perform there. While the Festival’s primary mandate is to present productions of William Shakespeare’s plays, it also products a wide variety of other types of plays. This year’s (2009) plays include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Westside Story and The Importance of Being Ernest. There are some 14 plays in all. A far cry from when the Festival first started. The number of theatres has increased, as have the number and types of plays. If you enjoy traveling to interesting places and want to experience one of North America’s finest theatres, Stratford and the Stratford Festival is a must! To find out more, visit the Festivals Website at http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/.

Artists’ Series – Glen Loates

This is the fifth in a series about Canadian artists I have know, and worked with.

Glen was sitting at the kitchen window of a friend’s home. The window overlooked a large backyard. There were a number of mature trees in the backyard with one fairly close to the window. The owners of the home were very generous with tossing out bird seed. As a result the backyard had become a Mecca for song birds! As we sat at the window a bright red Cardinal flew onto a branch close by. Glen already had pencil and paper in hand and was quickly sketching the morning guest. The details and animation of the bird were incredible. I watched with a new appreciation of Glen’s talents! This is likely my most vivid memory of my time with Wildlife Artist, Glen Loates. To me Glen is the epitome of a true renaissance man! He not only draws and paints to perfection. He writes novels and screenplays. He is a talented sculptor. He is an avid collector of many things and he is an explorer of some note. His knowledge of the world is child-like in that he needs to know everything. He has an insatiable curiosity of the world around him. Perhaps that is why he jumped at the chance to join the search for the “Giant Squid”! He is one of the few people who have traveled to the depths of the ocean. His account and renderings of the wondrous creatures he saw leave one breathless! In their ugliness, he sees beauty! In their bizarreness, he sees humour! In their world, he sees magic!

Glen has been painting as long as he can remember, a child prodigy. Glen has always been an innovator. He was one of the first artists to offer limited edition prints. As a pioneer in this area, he opened the doors for many artists to prosper. Even President Ronald Reagan benefited from Glen’s talents. As a thank you from Canadians, Glen presented the President Reagan with a wonderful painting of a Bald Eagle. While President Reagan was in office, the painting hung proudly in the White House. Today it hangs in the Reagan Presidential Library in California. Glen’s works, originals and limited editions can be found world-wide!

Artists’ Series – Mary Kendrick

This is the forth in a series about Canadian artists I have known, and worked with.

Mary Kendrick, like her art, is timeless! Judi and I have known and admired Mary for over 20 years. Over that period of time, Mary has remained the same, talented, modest and, most importantly, our friend. Over the years we have visited Mary at her home in Essex, hosted her at our home in Cobourg, purchased a number of her originals and taken art lessons from her! I guess what I am trying to say is that Mary has been an important part of our lives for many years. We really got to know Mary best when we convinced her to participate and exhibit at the first Cobourg Waterfront Festival. We lured her by promising to host her while she was in Cobourg. That was the start of a tradition that lasted over 15 years. I can’t remember how many good laughs we had during those stays! For many years Judi’s Cobourg Festival booth was next to Mary’s. The wisdom and friendship just kept on building! To say that Mary is modest would be an understatement. I believe that she is one of Canada’s best floral artists. Her works are collected by people from all over the world. While she was exhibiting at the Cobourg Waterfront Festival, she was consistently in the top 5 for sales. The same applied while she exhibited at the Buckhorn Fine (Wildlife) Art Festival. Mary has slowed down a little now, but her work is still as wonderful as ever and, I might add, much sought after.

Artists’ Series – Judi McWilliams

This is the third in a series about Canadian artists I have known, and in this case, married.

Judi McWilliams is one of those artists whose art triggers the imagination. As a result, collectors from around the world have purchased her paintings! Judi has had a love and flare for art ever since she was a little girl. As a matter of fact, her father was a graphic artist and her mother and sisters were very crafty! Her twin sister, Sue Caron, exhibits her acrylic paintings locally. Judi’s and my first real foray into the world of art was our visit, so many years ago, to the Buckhorn Wildlife Art Festival! We met so many wonderful artists at the festival and I am sure that many of these artists inspired Judi and caused her artistic passions to flow! A few years after our first art show, we entered the art world ourselves by becoming sales agents for Edwin Matthews and Buckhorn Fine Art Publishing. Eventually this led to our owning two fine art galleries and a wholesale custom framing business. By immersing herself in the art world, Judi discovered the infinite opportunities to pursue her own artist talents. Although Judi has tried several mediums and styles, she always comes back to free flowing watercolours! She likes the immediacy of the watercolours and by using her unique techniques, they seem to have a mind of their own! The images and subjects she paints come from reality, but are translated onto paper through her imagination. Over the years Judi has participated in many fine art events and festivals. She is always amazed and appreciative of how people enjoy her creations!