Atlantic Theatre Festival

Over two million dollars was contributed by the local, Nova Scotian, and Canadian governments to create the Festival Theatre.

The reputation of the festival grew over the following seasons as it attracted the likes of Megan Follows, Christopher Plummer, and area native Peter Donat to join its company.

In later years, despite originally being conceived as a classical repertory, the festival maintained its critical success as it began to include works by Canadian playwrights as well as family-friendly musicals.

Despite a strong critical reputation, mounting debts over the first five years forced the Atlantic Theatre Festival to reduce cast sizes, lay-off crew, and cancel productions.

With one main stage production and comedic readings to form the "Summer of Laughter" season both audiences and tourists returned.