Found this on the web. Sounds like a really cute idea for a festival. The part I found most shocking was that everything was FREE!!!!!
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Disney axes Winnie-the-Pooh fest
Says annual Friendship Day too costly
By TAMMY MARLOWE - WINNIPEG SUN
Oh, bother -- Disney has pulled the plug on Pooh Friendship Day. Officials confirmed the hugely popular local summer festival, put on by the Walt Disney Company Canada and local group Partners In The Park, has been axed by Disney management.
"When this started it was supposed to be a one-time-only event," Partners executive director Donna Hicks said last night. "We've been very fortunate because we've had it four years in a row."
The event -- celebrating the spirit of friendship with Winnie the Pooh and friends -- kicked off Aug. 20, 2000, with tens of thousands of Manitobans taking in a performance by Celtic sensation Leahy at Assiniboine Park.
Friendship Day continued to be one of the most popular summer family happenings for the next three years .
Country star Michelle Wright took the Lyric Theatre outdoor stage in 2000, and R&B diva Deborah appeared in 2002.
As many as 80,000 people packed the park for last year's frivolity -- which included autograph sessions with Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Pooh and many family oriented games and attractions.
Everything at the event was free.
This week, Disney officials said it costs the entire annual Canadian marketing budget to put on the one-day festival. The company would rather hold a few smaller events around the country instead of blowing the bank on one Winnie event.
'Close relationship'
Hicks said she believes there's still a "tremendous appetite to do some family centred event" in the park, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
Board members will get together to discuss how best to focus their energies now that Pooh is gone. They'll also stay in touch with Disney officials in case any future Winnie-themed ideas come up.
"We continue to have a close relationship with Disney," said Hicks. "We will continue to have ongoing discussions."
The cuddly yellow "hunny"-loving character was named after this city during the First World War by a local soldier, Harry Colebourn, who purchased a bear cub from a hunter in Northern Ontario and adopted it as a mascot for his brigade.
Colebourn named the bear "Winnie" after his hometown and took the cub to England. When the brigade went into battle in France, he gave Winnie to the London Zoo, where it became a favourite of author A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin.
Milne wrote four books about Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, Roo, Tigger and Rabbit. Disney brought the stories to the big screen. In 1997, Pooh was named a United Nations' World Ambassador of Friendship.
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Disney axes Winnie-the-Pooh fest
Says annual Friendship Day too costly
By TAMMY MARLOWE - WINNIPEG SUN
Oh, bother -- Disney has pulled the plug on Pooh Friendship Day. Officials confirmed the hugely popular local summer festival, put on by the Walt Disney Company Canada and local group Partners In The Park, has been axed by Disney management.
"When this started it was supposed to be a one-time-only event," Partners executive director Donna Hicks said last night. "We've been very fortunate because we've had it four years in a row."
The event -- celebrating the spirit of friendship with Winnie the Pooh and friends -- kicked off Aug. 20, 2000, with tens of thousands of Manitobans taking in a performance by Celtic sensation Leahy at Assiniboine Park.
Friendship Day continued to be one of the most popular summer family happenings for the next three years .
Country star Michelle Wright took the Lyric Theatre outdoor stage in 2000, and R&B diva Deborah appeared in 2002.
As many as 80,000 people packed the park for last year's frivolity -- which included autograph sessions with Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Pooh and many family oriented games and attractions.
Everything at the event was free.
This week, Disney officials said it costs the entire annual Canadian marketing budget to put on the one-day festival. The company would rather hold a few smaller events around the country instead of blowing the bank on one Winnie event.
'Close relationship'
Hicks said she believes there's still a "tremendous appetite to do some family centred event" in the park, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
Board members will get together to discuss how best to focus their energies now that Pooh is gone. They'll also stay in touch with Disney officials in case any future Winnie-themed ideas come up.
"We continue to have a close relationship with Disney," said Hicks. "We will continue to have ongoing discussions."
The cuddly yellow "hunny"-loving character was named after this city during the First World War by a local soldier, Harry Colebourn, who purchased a bear cub from a hunter in Northern Ontario and adopted it as a mascot for his brigade.
Colebourn named the bear "Winnie" after his hometown and took the cub to England. When the brigade went into battle in France, he gave Winnie to the London Zoo, where it became a favourite of author A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin.
Milne wrote four books about Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, Roo, Tigger and Rabbit. Disney brought the stories to the big screen. In 1997, Pooh was named a United Nations' World Ambassador of Friendship.