The Canmore Summer Theatre Festival

The Cause

The Canmore Summer Theatre Festival (CSTF) is a two-show repertory outdoor theatre festival that provides the opportunity for theatre professionals, emerging artists and amateurs to share the stage. The CSTF provides paid opportunities for theatre professionals, mentorship for emerging and amateur theatre artists, as well as exposure and networking opportunities for Bow Valley locals that are looking to pursue a career in the performing arts.

Currently the CSTF is the only outdoor summer theatre experience available to Bow Valley residents. In addition, it is unique in providing family-friendly outdoor theatre in the summer. There are few opportunities for locals to work with theatre professionals in Canmore, and to our knowledge ours is the only program that aims to provide this opportunity for performers of all ages and abilities. Each year we look for more opportunities to include diverse members of the community. For example, in 2020 we had 3 neurodiverse actors from the Bow Valley Connections Centre as part of the cast. We also had two performances with American Sign Language translation and one with audio description for visually impaired and blind audience members.

Pine Tree Players is a community theatre group based in Canmore. Our Vision is to be a valued community theatre and champion of the local theatre experience.

Our Mission is to creatively deliver high quality, engaging and entertaining theatre programming which develops and supports local talent through an inspiring, inclusive and thriving community organization.

Our goals are to:
• Program events with strong audience appeal
• Encourage the love of performing arts throughout the community
• Showcase and develop local talent
• Develop a valued, vibrant, and competent volunteer body
• Maintain a balanced financial view towards all our activities
• Ensure the PTP legacy remains relevant for the community

Each year Pine Tree Players usually mounts two full theatre productions and two festivals, one of which is the Canmore Summer Theatre Festival. We offer skills development opportunities to the community, including hosting workshops and offering financial assistance for performing arts continuing education. We also offer four annual performing arts scholarships for local youth.

Who Will it Benefit?

There are approximately 1375 direct beneficiaries of the Canmore Summer Theatre Festival. These are:

1. Professional theatre artists seeking local employment;
2. Bow Valley residents looking for affordable and accessible theatre;
3. Youth seeking performing arts opportunities;
4. Aspiring theatre artists seeking mentorship from theatre professionals;
5. Neurodiverse performers;
6. Bow Valley residents that are Deaf, Deafened, Hard of Hearing, Blind or Visually Impaired.