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Goderich Signal Star, 2017-06-14, Page 1616 Signal Star • Wednesday, June 14, 2017 transfigured Town moves to Blyth Kathleen Smith Goderich Signal Star 'fhc 'Transfigured Town Festival for this corning October, originally meant to be hostedin Goderich, has moved on to Blyth, Ontario. After months of Goderich Town Council meetings and several conditions not being met or contracts and documents not provided by the Festival organizers as proof of a proper business plan, the eventwas pulled from Goderich. The much awaited event by _Harry Potter© enthusi- asts would have brought approximately 9, 000 ticket holders tothe town of Goderich. Although great for tour- ism, this amount of people coming into a town of a pop- ulation smaller than 9, 000 makes safety, organization and planning high priorities for the Town Council. The Festival organizers, with good intentions, wanted to bring the Festival to Goderich, transforming the town into a magical world of witchcraft and wizardry. Unfortunately, condi- tions made in the first moments of collaboration between the Festival organ- izers and the Town Council were continuously not met and the organizers were given a couple of exten- sions in order for them to meet those conditions. Based on information from Council meetings and according to members of Council, one of the more important reasons that a final contract to move for- ward with the Festival was not passed, was due to the. apparent lack of business planning by the organizers. Despite those issues, after months of Council meetings, the Town :of Goderich and its Council in no way removed their sup- port of the Festival remain- ing in Goderich. Rather, they provided extensions for the organizers to gain proper planning docu- ments and contracts. "The Town of Goderich did not pull its support from the event. There were conditions that had to be met and Mr. Swartz con- firmed publicly that those conditions would be met by our last meeting. He was not in attendance. We went into a closed session to discuss that as well as other matters, and when we rose from closed ses- sion, there was a motion made, but we were also informed that Mr. Swartz, while we were discussing • the Festival in Goderich, was pitching to North Huron, in which Blyth is located," Mayor Morrison explained. The 'Transfigured 'i'own Festival has now been pulled from Goderich, and will be hosted up the road in Blyth, in one large area rather than spread out across a town. The decision to move to another town has of course created confusion to the ticket holders and disap- pointment of residents and business owners that were taking part in the Festival. Despite the confusion, disappointment and change of location, the Transfigured Town Festi- val's organizers are moving forward with their plans. Based on information of the Festival's activities posted to Facebook, it will be an event of magic, enter- tainment and a chance to raise money for local com- munity groups. The following is the offi- cial press release from the o'rganizers.of the Transfig- ured Town inc.: Festival Organizers are confidently moving forward with their plans to create an immersive festival that will bring thousands of witches and wizards to Huron County. fust down the road from Goderich is Blyth, Ontario, which was .the organizer's first choice as a backup venue and both the Organ- izers and the Municipality of North Huron are opti- mistic that plans and agreernents_will move for- ward srnr`oothly and quickly. Nathan Swartz, President of Transfigured Town inc. says, "It will offer Inure than 40 acres as opposed to the approximately 1.2 acres available in Goderich and is situated less than five_ min- utes walk from I7lyth's downtown." Blyth, Ontario is an up and .coming community that has recently received $3.3 million in provincial and RID fund- ing to support the creation of a cultural hub, including beautiful renovations to the renowned Blyth Festival Theatre.. I'here is also the recent addition of the new state of the art craft brewery, Cow- bell Brewing Co. it also hosts the #1 rated restau- rant in Ontario on Trip Advisor for the second year running, The Bistro Part II. Organizers met- with North Huron Council last Monday, where council unanimously approved a motion for organizers. to move forward with Munici- pal Staff: One councillor even expressed desire for tickets to the festival, which sold out in February of 2017. The Organizers have jok- ingly referred to Blyth as their 'Roorn of Requirement' over the past several weeks. 7'he 'Room of Require- meta' was a magically hid- den •room in Ilogwarts where the Army of Dumble- dore was able to meet and practice Defense Against the Dark Arts. • Because venue change is not:uncommon, Transfigured Town Inc, like. all organized event planners, had identi fled four backup venues. .Blyth_ was their first choice and they are very happy and excited about the level of knowledge and experience that the staff of North Huron have to offer this event. . Although Blyth is only 15 minutes down the road, the Organizers also thought about the ticket holders liv- ing in Goderich and those who are staying in Goderich . accommodations. "We have decided to issue free parking passes to _the guests of all Goderich accommodations which will allow on-site parking if it is presented with valid tick- ets,"says Transfigured Town Inc. Vice President Amanda Swartz. "We will also be running some shuttles to and from the event for resi- dents of Goderich who have purchased tickets and may not have access to their own transportation." A valid ticket will be required to use these shuttles as well. There will be significant sav- ings thanks to the move, which will allow the Organizers to add to the already exciting entertainment line=up. "We have added Draco and the Malfoys (a popular Wizard Wrock Band), we have reached out to several well known celebrities and are looking at possibilities for other fun additions to the festival," says Nathan Swartz. As details are confirmed they will make announce- ments on their Facebook page: Transfigured Town Inc. and will be sending reg- ular notices to ticket holders using the emails they had provided when they pur- chased tickets. Most importantly there will be an amazing space for witches and wizards to gather from across the land to practice their swishes and flicks, listen to Wizard Wrock, escape the non -mag- ical world,. and.raise money for the Huron Food Action Network and other local community groups. goderichsignalstar.com Happy Father's ay to all: Fathers, Grandfathers, Stepfathers, Foster fathers, Adoptive fathers and all those who have chosen to be a "Dad" to a child who needs you! GODERICH & DISTRICT PRO-LIFE THE LiFE CENTRE CALL OR TEXT 519-525- 4 ,