The Charlottetown Festival is a seasonal

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

festival which has run from late May to mid-October every year since 1965. The Charlottetown Festival is hosted in

Confederation Centre of the Arts Confederation Centre of the Arts () is a cultural centre dedicated to the visual arts, visual and performing arts located in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. History Construction of Confederation Centre, as it is commonly ...

every year. Named after its host city of

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, since its inception in 1965 the festival has showcased Canada's longest-running musical, '' Anne of Green Gables: The Musical''. It also seeks out and commissions new Canadian musicals, including ''Evangeline'', ''Emily'', ''Johnny Belinda'', ''Stories From The Red Dirt Road'', ''On The Road With Dutch Mason'', '' Tell Tale Harbour'', ''Bittergirl: The Musical'', '' Maggie'', and ''Rockabye Hamlet''. '' Anne of Green Gables: The Musical'' debuted in 1965 and holds the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for longest-running annual musical, being performed every summer up to 2019. The production was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. After returning the musical to the stage in 2022, the festival announced that the musical would from then on be staged every second year. The production has also toured to

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, and across Canada. The festival includes a summer musical theatre training program called the Confederation Centre Young Company. The Young Company shows are free to the public and take place at noon outside the Confederation Centre. The shows typically feature Canadian-themed content. In 2011, Indigenous playwright Cathy Elliott wrote and directed ''The Talking Stick,'' featuring an all-Indigenous cast. The piece was performed for the

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and Princess Catherine during their tour of

in 2011. As a

Canada 150 The 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation and promoted by the Government of Canada, Canadian government as Canada 150, occurred in 2017 as Canada marked the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederati ...

Signature Project, the Young Company toured the country in 2017, presenting the original musical ''The Dream Catchers'' and working with youth in each city. ''The Dream Catchers'' was also performed for

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Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

in October 2017, during the Confederation Centre's presentation of the annual Symons Medal and Lecture in Charlottetown. Past

artistic directors An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, ...

of the festival include Mavor Moore, Alan Lund, Jacques Lemay, Duncan MacIntosh, Anne Allan, and

Walter Learning Walter John Learning (November 16, 1938 – January 5, 2020) was a Canadian theatre director, actor, and founder of Theatre New Brunswick. Biography Walter Learning was born in 1938 in the small village of Quidi Vidi in the Dominion of Newfound ...

. The current artistic director is Adam Brazier.

References

External links

* {{Charlottetown Music festivals established in 1965 Music festivals in Charlottetown 1965 establishments in Canada Theatre festivals in Prince Edward Island

See also

References

External links