Registration for Contact East 2023 is now open!
Thank you to everyone who joined us at Contact East 2022! Contact East 2023 will take place next September in Woody Point, Newfoundland. Check out our Digital Conference Handbook for information on this year’s artists, activities, and more!
It is with great delight that, on behalf of Friends of Writers at Woody Point, we welcome you to Contact East 2023, which runs from September 21st to 24th, 2023.
We acknowledge the island of Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) as the unceded, traditional territory of the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq. And we acknowledge Labrador as the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Innu of Nitassinan, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut, and the Inuit of NunatuKavut.
 

A note for our friends, especially those making their first trip to Woody Point.

While you work to finalize travel and accommodation details, we want to give you a bit of information about the area that may be helpful. Woody Point is home to our festival in the heart of Gros Morne National Park, on the shores of Bonne Bay. The community is a fishing village with a thriving tourism industry, but the town does have limited amenities.

The town is very compact, and you will find the venues are a short walk or drive from the accommodations and restaurants. When you arrive in Newfoundland, the airport in Deer Lake, Woody Point is a forty-five-minute drive. There are rental vehicles available at the airport, but we will also be assisting with transportation between Deer Lake and Woody Point. If you prefer to use the transportation provided, we will need flight arrival and departure information from you preferably by the end of August. 

While there are a variety of accommodations, they can book up quickly, so we have reserved/held several rooms with accommodation providers in the area. These rooms will be held until the end of June 2023 at which time they will be released to the public. We encourage you to book sooner rather than later and will provide our contact information if you have any specific needs, we are happy to help suggest options that will suit you best. Whether you are renting a car or are on foot there are local taxi services and shuttle buses to help get you where you need to be without any stress – but if you do plan to rent a car choosing accommodations a little further from town centre would be helpful for those who do not.

We have a few small general stores and there is no pharmacy. You may want to stop at a supermarket or pharmacy in Deer Lake before heading to Woody Point, should you have any last-minute needs. For those we are assisting with transportation to and from Woody Point, the drivers of the local transportation companies are happy to stop at a grocery store or pharmacy and will answer any questions you may have.

As hosts, we will do our best to assist and ensure that your time in Woody Point is enjoyable. Diana can be reached if you have questions, by email at diana@writersatwoodypoint.com or by telephone at 306.308.0036 (C).

Once again, we look forward to seeing you in Woody Point and hope you love it as much as we do.

Friends of Writers at Woody Point 2023

Accommodations

The following accommodation providers have rooms reserved for Contact East 2023 and these reservations will be held until the end of June 2023 unless noted otherwise. There are a variety of accommodations which include single rooms, double occupancy, and multi-room/full house options.

For all reservations in Woody Point, please state you are part of the Contact East conference. You must CALL to book accommodations—DO NOT BOOK ONLINE. Norris Point and Trout River do not have rooms on hold. 

It is important to note that this list is not inclusive of all accommodations or Airbnb options in the area.

Schedule

Subject to Change

Wednesday, September 20

10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Airport Pick-ups

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Location TBA

Pre-conference Party

Thursday, September 21

12:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Woody Point Public Library

Registration Desk Open

9:00 am - 10:00 am

Woody Point Royal Canadian Legion

Breakfast

9:00 am - 10:00 am

Merchant Warehouse Retro Cafe & Wine Bar

Board Meeting

10:30 am - 2:30 pm

Gros Morne National Park

Gros Morne Adventure (Optional)

Extra cost applies

4:00 pm - 6:45 pm

Discovery Centre – Gros Morne National Park

Welcome & Opening Activities

7:30 pm - 10:15 pm

Heritage Theatre

Showcase #1

10:30 pm - 12:30 pm

Downtown Woody Point

World's Smallest Pub Crawl

Friday September 22

8:00 am - 9:30 am

Woody Point Royal Canadian Legion

Breakfast

8:30 am - 9:15 am

Merchant Warehouse Retro Cafe & Wine Bar

Atlantic Moves Meeting

9:30 am - 11:00 am

Water Taxi and Bus to Cow Head

11:15 pm - 1:00 pm

Myra Bennett Performing Arts Centre

Showcase #2

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

Shallow Bay Conference Centre

AGM Lunch

2:45 pm - 3:45 pm

Myra Bennett Performing Arts Centre – Studio

PD Session TBA

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Myra Bennett Performing Arts Centre

Showcase #3

6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Myra Bennett Performing Arts Centre

Dinner

8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Travel Back to Woody Point

9:30 pm - 12:00 am

Woody Point Royal Canadian Legion

Hospitality Suite

Saturday, September 23

8:30 am - 9:30 am

Woody Point Royal Canadian Legion

Breakfast

10:00 am - 11:00 am

Location TBA

Pitches

11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Location TBA

One-to-One Meetings

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Woody Point Town Hall

Lunch

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Location TBA

One-to-One Meetings

4:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Heritage Theatre

Showcase #4

6:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Woody Point Royal Canadian Legion

Final Party

10:00 pm - 12:00 pm

Woody Point Royal Canadian Legion

After Party

Sunday, September 24

9:30 am - 10:00 am

Woody Point Royal Canadian Legion

Breakfast

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Merchant Warehouse Retro Cafe & Wine Bar – Upstairs

Member Meeting

12:00 am - TBA

Airport Drop-offs

That’s a wrap! Connect and regroup with other members and APA staff after a whirlwind three days of conferencing. We’ll have a demonstration of the Arts Touring Connector with developer Ross Paton. This is a brand spanking new block booking tool being launched this Fall! And as always we will discuss programming, and have a chance to share our plans for the rest of the season before we head our separate ways.

Artists

Showcasing

Pitching

About Contact East

Contact East is the Atlantic Presenters Association’s hallmark event and Atlantic Canada’s performing arts booking conference. The annual event provides an essential and inspiring experience for delegates bringing together regional, national, and international performing arts presenters, managers, and agents, to see performances which showcase a diverse range of artistic genres, including but not limited to music, cabaret, dance, disability arts, circus arts, comedy, youth-oriented programming, and cultural performances.

Contact East is a four-day showcase and professional development conference complete with approximately 30 artist performances, showcase and pitch sessions, as well as an unprecedented opportunity for presenters to network and learn from some of the best in the business from the Atlantic Provinces, across Canada, and internationally.

APA is further committing to its mandate to present a diverse range of artists from a variety of backgrounds. APA acknowledges that past artist selection processes were not fair or equitable and understands the value that lived experiences and community-based practices have when it comes to making decisions. APA is committed to implementing and upholding equitable practices in choosing artists to perform at Contact East 2022 and beyond.

The artists chosen by the selection committee shall have equitable representation across populations, including Indigenous, Black, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+, Deaf, Disability, and Mad arts communities. Atlantic Presenters Association is dedicated to providing a space that is accessible, inclusive, and free from oppression, harassment, and discrimination.

To further ensure a fair selection process, APA will be putting out a call for applications for interested individuals to be on this year’s selection committee. In the past, Contact East’s selection committee has been hand-picked from APA’s membership rather than opened up to the larger presenting community. The goal of this change is to make sure the committee represents a cross-section of different artistic genres and cultural backgrounds, resulting in an overall diverse representation of committee members to ensure the selection process is as fair and equitable as possible.

Past Artists

Awards & Nominations

Initiated in 1998, Contact East sponsored a series of awards to recognize excellence and achievement in the field of live performance touring and presentation. The Contact East Awards of Excellence celebrate the growth of the industry and recognize the accomplishments of presenters and performers who comprise the touring sector in Atlantic Canada.

Beginning in 2015, Contact East streamlined its awards into one honour, the Atlantic Presenters Association Achievement Award.

Awards Categories

History

Beginning in 1975, the event was produced by the Touring Office of the Canada Council for the Arts. In 1982, the event was managed by a steering committee of representatives from the four Atlantic Provinces. With the incorporation of the Atlantic Presenters Association in 2001, the organization took over management of the event and has been producing quality conferences ever since.

According to the Atlantic Presenters Association’s records, Contact East has been held in the following years and locations:

2022 – Nova Scotia – Halifax (Neptune Theatre)
2021 – New Brunswick – Moncton (Capitol Theatre)
2020 – Contact(less) East
2019 – Prince Edward Island – Charlottetown (Florence Simmonds Hall at Holland College)
2018 – Newfoundland & Labrador – St. John’s (Arts and Culture Centre)
2017 – Nova Scotia – Membertou, Cape Breton (Membertou Trade & Convention Centre)
2016 – New Brunswick – Saint John (Imperial Theatre)
2015 – Prince Edward Island – Charlottetown (Confederation Centre of the Arts)
2014 – Nova Scotia – Pictou (deCoste Centre)
2013 – Newfoundland & Labrador – St. John’s (Arts and Culture Centre)
2012 – New Brunswick – Fredericton (Fredericton Playhouse)
2011 – Prince Edward Island – Summerside (Harbourfront Theatre)
2010 – Nova Scotia – Antigonish (The Keating Millennium Centre)
2009 – New Brunswick – Moncton (The Capitol Theatre)
2007 – Nova Scotia – Liverpool (The Astor Theatre)
2005 – Prince Edward Island – Summerside (Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre)
2003 – Newfoundland & Labrador – St. John’s (Arts and Culture Centre)
2001 – New Brunswick – Saint John (Hotel Courtenay Bay/Imperial Theatre)
1998 – Nova Scotia – Wolfville (Old Orchard Inn/ Atlantic Theatre Festival)
1996 – New Brunswick – Saint John (Delta Hotel/Imperial Theatre)
1994 – Prince Edward Island – Charlottetown (Confederation Centre)
1992 – Prince Edward Island – Charlottetown (Confederation Centre)
1990 – Nova Scotia – Dartmouth (Holiday Inn)
1988 – New Brunswick – Saint John (Delta Saint John/Saint John High School)
1985 – Nova Scotia – Halifax (World Trade Centre)
1983 – Massachusetts – Boston
1982 – New Brunswick – Sackville (Mt Allison University)
1979 – Nova Scotia – Halifax (Lord Nelson Hotel)
1978 – New Brunswick – Moncton (Hotel Beauséjour)
1977 – Nova Scotia – Halifax (Lord Nelson Hotel)
1976 – Nova Scotia – Halifax (Chateau Halifax)
1975 – New Brunswick – Fredericton (Lord Beaverbrook Hotel)