Culture Days in Saskatchewan – 5 Years and Growing - Culture Days Saskatchewan

It’s been over five years since Saskatchewan joined forces with other provinces across the country to host Culture Days – a three-day celebration, held annually the last weekend in September, which encourages the public to engage in the cultural life of our communities.

“Culture Days emerged as a way to highlight the diversity of cultural activity available in the province, and as a proactive idea to help develop new audiences,” explains Rose Gilks, general manager, SaskCulture and member of the national Culture Days Board of Directors. “After five years, the numbers and testimonies show that Culture Days has contributed to a steady growth in cultural awareness, and increased participation by residents in the cultural life of their communities.”

Thanks to SaskCulture’s Culture Days Funding Assistance Grant, many organizations have received grants to help them engage new audiences in interactive cultural experiences during the Culture Days weekend. Since its inception in 2012, SaskCulture has given out over $400,000 to groups supporting Culture Days. “Thanks to this grant, we have also had many new groups learn more about what SaskCulture has to offer,” adds Gilks. And, this support continues.

2014 Culture Days in Saskatchewan

In 2014, Culture Days continued to gain momentum in Saskatchewan. The number of registered activities grew, social media connections flourished, animateur liaisons developed, and participation increased. Promotion of the 2014 campaign included a participation guide flyer, “save the date” postcards, a promotional insert which was delivered to over 300,000 Saskatchewan households with SaskEnergy bills, paid Facebook and Twitter campaigns, ads placed in rural Saskatchewan weekly newspapers, comprehensive event guides for Saskatoon and Regina which were inserted in the Prairie Dog, Planet S, the QC and Bridges, highway billboards as well as reusable vinyl banners and blank posters for use by activity organizers.

Culture Days 2014 by the numbers:

263 registered activities
50 communities
91 activity organizers
960 new Facebook likes, 645 new Twitter followers
870 video views on YouTube with an estimated 1,423 minutes watched by viewers
44 episodes of the SaskScapes podcast produced with over 12,000 downloads
26,264 total estimated attendance at Culture Days activities in Saskatchewan

Click on the graphs below to enlarge them…