Given the success puppetry has seen in Stratford over recent years, Eileen Smith is hoping that will convince the city to take a step towards making it an even bigger draw for local culture.
Smith appeared before city council in June to encourage Stratford’s accepting the invitation to join AVIAMA, the International Association of Puppet Friendly Cities. The decision was referred to staff at the June 10 meeting, but Smith is hopeful that Stratford will move forward with an application.
“I was at an international festival in Montreal back in March, which is one of the most prestigious ones in the world, and the art director of that one and one of the leads from France spent an hour pitching this to us in the middle of a very busy festival,” she said. “Being courted by Montreal and France seemed like a cool thing, and we would be the first English-speaking city in North America to join.”
At the current time, only Outremont and Saguenay are AVIAMA members in Canada, and Smith said that becoming a member would not only be a feather in their cap to be the lone English-speaking city on the continent to be a member, but also the benefits of being represented world-wide.
“It’s a marketing channel and the funds that you pay to join are nominal but that money is something you can apply to get and put towards projects you want to do,” she said. “And being in AVIAMA means you’re at an intersection point where everybody’s absolutely passionate and excited about puppetry. Your city is being promoted even if you’re not present at a meeting. They’re meeting in Gent this year, and we could have a spot at that table.”
As Smith points out, the SpringWorks Festival has had a strong two-summer run lately: drawing more than 23,000 visitors to the city in that span and injecting roughly $3 million into the local economy. Puppetry has already carved out a small place on the city’s cultural menu, and Smith can see joining AVIAMA helping it enlarge that spot.
“In the sense of classical threatre and its high-production values, the Stratford Festival makes this a world-class city already, but we can position ourselves to become a world-class city in puppetry as well,” she said. “People come to Stratford for the Festival, but people will also travel the world to go to festivals. So as a relatively new festival and a new experience for people who’ve never been to a puppet show, I think (SpringWorks) and the Festival can be complimentary pieces to each other.”
With programming that caters to children as well as adults, Smith said that SpringWorks is well positioned to fill in both ends of the spectrum when it comes to entertainment for the whole family. The company has been presenting puppetry since 2011, gradually expanding their offerings as they grew. And with that growth came a reputation among the other upper-echelon festivals that has allowed them to bring in high-quality performers.
“We’ve got a reputation that, even though we’re a small festival, we are lovely hosts and people who come here have a good time,” Smith said. “Last year we had a performer come from Budapest and he told us he’s been to six continents and about 300 festivals, and we’re one of the best small festivals that he’s even been to for warmth and feeling supported. He easily had 500 people at a performance - they just kept coming to watch.”
Smith remains hopeful that Stratford will accept the offer soon, thus opening another door to the world for the city to walk through.
“The city isn’t moving that rapidly on their decision, but I remain hopeful,” she said. “It’s a modest investment with a lot of potential for the future.”
