CFL.ca
Argonauts.ca Staff
OTTAWA — During the PRESTIGE Awards Luncheon hosted today at the Westin Hotel in the nation’s capital, the 100th Grey Cup Festival was named the Canadian Sport Event of the Year for 2012 as voted by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA).
“On behalf of the 100th Grey Cup Festival committee, I would like to thank the CSTA for recognizing the Festival as an important celebration of sport and culture in Canada. There are many people who deserve thanks for the tremendous success of the Festival, but the true champions were the citizens of Toronto who welcomed the rest of Canada with open arms. We promised an Invitation to Our Nation and delivered an event that Canadians and Torontonians embraced and further enhanced the Grey Cup as an iconic symbol of our country’s heritage,” said Toronto Argonauts and 100th Grey Cup Festival Executive Chairman & CEO, Chris Rudge.
The 100th Grey Cup Festival was an Invitation to Our Nation that transcended “beer and football” uniting Canadians from coast-to-coast in Toronto for a nine-day, ten-night festival which encompassed more than 50 events ranging from traditional team parties, galas and player awards to a football film festival and family fun zone at great venues including the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Yonge-Dundas Square and Nathan Phillips Square. Complete with street closures, extensive free-to-the-public entertainment and activities and youth programs, the 100th Grey Cup was a sport and cultural celebration that attracted in excess of 300,000 people.
The PRESTIGE Awards (Programming Recognizing Exceptional Sport Tourism Initiatives, Games & Events) celebrate the people, places and events that make the Canadian sport tourism industry so important to the economic fabric of Canadian communities. The awards are presented annually to individuals, companies, events and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the success of the sport tourism industry across Canada.
The 100th Grey Cup Festival was a finalist in Canadian Sport Event of the Year category along with the 2012 Budweiser CARHA Hockey World Cup in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, as well as the 2012 Tim Horton’s Brier in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
