Festival Focus
The International Cultural Festival in Toronto will be a yearly event that brings together people from different cultures to showcase their uniqueness in the city. The festival will provide a platform for the members of the various international cultures to interact and understand one another.
Festival Rational
The need for such an event is pegged on the idea of globalization. Due to globalization, the movement of people and goods from one place to another has become easier and faster over the decades. Additionally, cultural integration has been made easier due to access to the Internet. The festival will combine all these factors onto one platform, and allow Canadians, and people from other cultures from all over the world, to interact with the identified cultures.
The role of the Internet in bringing people together cannot be overstated. In the same breath, the festival will go hand in hand with Sustainable Development Goal 17 that stresses the need for partnerships. The event provides a venue for people with different backgrounds and affiliations to form friendships, business partnerships, and create social bonds that will last past the festival.
It is also deemed essential to learn and appreciate differences in perceptions, especially regarding life. Different cultures have different perceptions, and these unique views are often misunderstood. The platform will be the best place to learn and demystify such myths and stereotypes. Apart from this, the event will also showcase different traditional artwork, food, and drinks that the cultures associate themselves with. Music from different cultures will also be played throughout the festival.
Festival Period
The festival will occur on a yearly basis on every last Sunday of August. In 2017, the date fell on the 27th.
Festival Venue
The event will take place in downtown Toronto.
Festival marketing
Several activities and strategies will be employed in promoting the festival. The activities/strategies will be both direct and indirect. For direct strategies, the team will visit embassies in Canada to circulate information about the festival. The embassies will be requested to be part of the event as they also serve as cultural custodians of their respective countries, in Canada. Social media will be used for both direct and indirect marketing. Regarding direct marketing, several social media accounts will be created on different platforms to bring in the target audience. Targeted social media promotion will be used to get the attention of the public.
As mentioned, social media will also be used for indirect marketing. Bulk advertising will be used to advertise to people who have a general interest in festivals. A website titled “International Cultural Festival in Toronto” will also be designed and launched online. Links to the website, which will have more information on the festival and its intentions, will be put up on the social media platforms.
Traditional media will also be used as part of the promotion plans. Radio specs and television spots will be created with the guidance of specialists in the field. Newspaper advertisements, which are still very influential in Canada, will also be used. In the same breath, there are travel magazines and festival publications that can be used to promote the festival. The mentioned promotional activities will be done one and a half months before the event. The timeline will allow for proper management of the event, as well as give the public time to prepare for the festival.