The Artistic Director of the Blyth Festival says he really looking forward to this year's Festival for a number of reasons.
First because they couldn't have a festival last year, but also because this year they're introducing the new, outdoor Harvest Stage to Blyth audiences. Gil Garratt says the new stage will be a permanent fixture at the Festival.
“We are going to have plays from now on, that will not only be in Memorial Hall, but also outside, on this Harvest Stage, so I think in the years to come we're going to continue to see more and more of what we can do outside, being able to have larger casts to really fill that space.”
Garratt explains he's also already had calls from different community groups and performance asking about the possibility of renting the outdoor stage for a variety of events.
Garratt says it's going to be a lot of fun learning how to use the new stage.
“One of the things that we did was actually build part of the stage out of recycled shipping containers, so there is actually, like, a second floor to the performance space there can be performers up above and performers down below.”
The Blyth Festival season opens with The Downs on Wednesday, August 11th.