NEWS RELEASE: Tall Ships, Flying Dogs, a Water Circus and One Giant Duck!

The Redpath Waterfront Festival (RWF), presented by Billy Bishop Airport, is celebrating its 10th anniversary by releasing a video

The live celebration was supposed to take place this past June featuring the return of the World’s Largest Rubber Duck, however, due to COVID-19, the festival was postponed and ultimately cancelled. With 2020 coming to an end, the festival producers still wanted to celebrate this milestone year and show appreciation to all of the partners and attendees for their ongoing support.

The 10th anniversary video, produced by ChrisFilms, was released today on the Redpath Waterfront Festival’s YouTube channel and features interviews and footage from those who have helped make the festival possible for the past decade, including Co-Producer Lea Parrell.  

“Over the past decade, we have tried to connect our visitors to the waterfront in unique and engaging ways,” says Co-Producer Lea Parrell. “I think that our fun on-water and on-land activations have encouraged people to come back each year to discover this beautiful area of our city.”

In partnership with the Waterfront BIA, the initial objective of the Redpath Waterfront Festival was to bring visitors to this unique area and promote Toronto as a waterfront destination. The first event brought 14 tall ships that docked along the water’s edge offering visitors an opportunity to go on board the ships and experience and explore the full extent of the waterfront at the same time. Over 600,000 people attended the inaugural event in 2010 and due to its success the RWF became an annual festival.  

Over the past 10 years, there have been many memorable moments, but none quite like the World’s Largest Rubber Duck’s visit in 2017. Mama Duck floated into the Toronto harbour for Canada’s 150th anniversary and drew over 750,000 visitors, creating an economic impact of $7.6M for the province of Ontario. 

Redpath Waterfront Festival history of events:

  • 2010: Tall Ships Challenge® Great Lakes Series
  • 2012: East Coast/Maritime celebration in partnership with Nova Scotia Tourism & Saltscapes
  • 2013: Launch of the Tall Ships 1812 Tour
  • 2014: Flyboard North American Championships & Dock Dogs Championships
  • 2015: Party on the Promenade celebrating the newly revitalized Queens Quay Blvd.
  • 2016: Tall Ships Challenge® Great Lakes Series in partnership with the Royal Canadian Navy
  • 2017: World’s Largest Rubber Duck & the launch of the ONTARIO 150 Tour featuring Rhythm of the Nation and the West Coast Lumberjack Show
  • 2018: Aqua Cirque & HTO Pendulum Wave presented by Menkes
  • 2019: Launch of the Tall Ships Challenge® Ontario Tour

Past festival partners include: Redpath Sugar, Billy Bishop Airport, The Waterfront BIA, Menkes Developments, RBC, Hyundai Canada, Porter Airlines, The Westin Harbour Castle, Waterfront Toronto, CTV, Tall Ships America, Parks Canada and many more. Additionally, all levels of government have continually funded and supported the festival over the past 10 years. 

Visit the Redpath Waterfront Festival’s YouTube channel to watch the 10th anniversary video and towaterfrontfest.comto learn more. In addition to the video release, the festival is taking a trip down memory lane on social media with “10thAnniversary Tuesday” posts that focus on one year of the festival each week for 10 weeks. People are encouraged to follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for exclusive photos and videos and use #TOwaterfrontfest to share their favourite festival moments from the past decade. 

ABOUT REDPATH WATERFRONT FESTIVAL:
The Redpath Waterfront Festival (RWF) is an annual summer event that provides on-land and on-water programming with the goal of promoting Toronto as a premiere waterfront destination. With music, food, nautical programs and entertainment, the festival has something for everyone to enjoy. Every three years, the event welcomes a fleet of majestic tall ships to Toronto. In 2021 RWF is repositioning to a waterfront trail to follow COVID-19 regulations and guidelines TOwaterfrontTrail.com.

ABOUT WATER’S EDGE FESTIVALS & EVENTS:
Water’s Edge Festivals & Events (WEFE) is an Ontario not-for-profit organization created in 2011 with a mandate to be the driving force behind the successful Redpath Waterfront Festival and Sugar Shack TO in Toronto and promote waterfront destinations throughout Ontario with nautical festivals and events.