Petrolia Art in the Park

Petrolia's edition of Art in the Park made its annual summer appearance in Victoria Park on July 8th and 9th.  The event is promoted as an opportunity for local artists to come together and show their unique skills and abilities. The annual event has grown in popularity due to its reputation of past successful events and interesting programming and displays. The two day event takes place in the shadow of Victoria Hall, home to the Victoria Playhouse. The playhouse has become a popular tourist destination in Southwestern Ontario, attracting visitors from all over the province along with bus tours from the United States. Because of the proximity to Victoria Hall, the festival receives many visitors who are in town to visit the V.P.P. Further helping the growth of the festival is the addition of a very modern and effective website. Petrolia's modest population of around 5000 still receives a lot of local information through the local newspaper, The Petrolia Topic. However, adding an effective website as a marketing tool of the festival was a necessary step that was recently taken to promote the event beyond the local scale and to the youth of the community.

Art in the Park - Petrolia, ON (July 9, 2011)

In my opinion, there are 3 main factors that are allowing this event to be successful. The first is the proximity to Victoria Hall. Although there are larger location options for the event, hosting the festival in the heart of the town next to the most popular attraction (V.P.P.) creates an excellent atmosphere and provides free promotion to playgoers passing by. The second factor is the involvement of local talent in the event. Petrolia is a small community where many people know each other. By facilitating a genuine interest in the event through a family or social connection, loyalty and greater support can be created. The third factor is the recent upgrade to the event's website. Past websites have appeared to be very amateur and difficult to navigate. The current website is easy to use and a huge improvement esthetically from the previous version.

Art in the Park with Victoria Hall in the Background

The event's website is an important tool that must be used properly to access its full marketing potential. There are still some changes that need to be made in order to do so. One example is that links to the event's social media pages (which also need some work as they are currently used as a closed group for the event's committee) should be front and center on the event's home page. This is an inexpensive and effective way to promote the event that is currently being unused. Another example is deleting past websites. It took me 3 tries to finally get to the right website because the old ones were still active. This is a simple way to avoid confusion and make the site easier to find.

The event is continuing to grow and may eventually need to expand to multiple locations. For now though, Canada's Victorian Oil Town can be proud of a great festival that provides opportunities for art and culture in a beautiful setting.

http://artintheparkpetrolia.com/