CP Station.
Festival of the Sound office moves into its new home, the former Station Gallery, early next month.
Sam Ladan/North Star
PARRY SOUND - After years of sharing offices, the Festival of the Sound will finally have its own.
For many years, following the inception of the Festival of the Sound, organizers have had to share an office area with another company at its current James Street location.
Now, after a long wait, they are pleased to announce that as of January 10 they have secured an office of their own at the old CP Rail station on 1 Avenue Road, or more commonly referred to as the former Station Gallery.
The benefit of having a new office of their own will allow many aspects to be permanent, said festival executive director Jennifer McGillivray.
“For a while we had to share offices with H&R block, which we didn’t mind too much because it allowed us to be in the downtown area for a while, which was nice because we were where everything was going to be happening,” McGillivray said. “However, we just felt it was the right time to expand, and now this will allow us to do much more with the resources we have.”
Not only does the new space allow for more room and organization, but it also gives the festival the opportunity to showcase art and advertising, and sell more music, and even host intimate concerts. In previous years, the Sound Selections store gift shop was only available during the summer and at other venues during concerts organized by the Festival.
However, now that there is a designated office for the organization, the shop can be a year-round presence.
“We are very excited now that the Sound Selections shop can be a year round presence,” McGillivray said. “However, we will also be able to hang art from local and international artists, and even (host) some occasional small concerts from local and even international musicians occasionally.”
Along with the new office, the Festival has also announced a redesign of the previous logo. Although still keeping the “Festival Tree” in the logo, it has a new and improved look, which McGillivray said is a representation of how far the festival has come to reach its current status.
Despite the location change of the festival office, the organization is still holding the annual summer festivities at the Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts.
The Festival of the Sound will start on July 18 and run through until August 11.