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FMBX News
Posted: May 4, 2011
Kraft Canada extends Celebration Tour with The Sports Network
For the third year in a row, Canada becomes the backdrop for one of the country's most anticipated summertime events, as Kraft Canada and TSN head back out on the road with the return of the Kraft Celebration Tour. With stops from coast to coast, the Kraft Celebration Tour will see TSN's flagship sports news program SportsCentre broadcast live from 10 lucky Canadian communities over a period of 10 days this summer from August 19 to 28.
Once again, communities from across the country are invited to nominate their town as a broadcast location – and for the chance to win one of 10 $25,000 community awards from Kraft Canada to be used for improvements to a facility in the prize-winning communities. Canada's top-rated daily French-language sportscast, SPORTS 30 on RDS, will also join the Kraft Celebration Tour, broadcasting live from any winning Francophone communities.
Communities can enter by submitting an essay and photos describing why their community deserves to be a part of the Kraft Celebration Tour. The nomination period is open until June 10. Canadians can nominate their local community online at kraftcelebrationtour.ca and tourneedecelebrationkraft.ca.
"The Kraft Celebration Tour is a terrific program for anyone that wants to give back to the community where they live, work and have strong social ties," said Dino Bianco, President, Kraft Canada. "Nominate your community. It's easy and your submission can have a huge impact locally. The $25,000 community award can transform the areas where you come together to be active, have fun and spend quality time with family and friends."
"The power of the Kraft Celebration Tour rests in its ability to unite communities from coast to coast with inspirational stories of triumph and perseverance that resonate with us all," said Stewart Johnston, President, TSN. "To partner with Kraft Canada on a program like this, and to give back to communities that have consistently supported our network with their commitment to grassroots sports in Canada, is extremely rewarding for all of us at TSN."
Leading the special SportsCentre broadcasts and highlighting the accomplishments of local communities and athletes are anchors Darren Dutchyshen, Jay Onrait, Dan O'Toole and Kate Beirness, who hits the road for the first time on the Kraft Celebration Tour. Veteran anchors Chantal Machabee and Marc Labrecque will lead SPORTS 30 broadcasts in winning Francophone communities.
On Canada Day (July 1), TSN and RDS will announce the 20 finalists selected by a panel of judges. Then it's up to Canada to decide the 10 winning tour stops via 10 intense weekdays of head-to-head online voting beginning July 11.
This year's Kraft Celebration Tour follows last year's cross-country event, which received more than 460 nominations from communities across Canada and saw a record 4.1 million votes cast to select the 10 winning communities (see attached Kraft Celebration Tour backgrounder for more information on last year's tour stops and community award recipients).
The Kraft Celebration Tour is supported by a multi-faceted marketing campaign utilizing TSN and RDS broadcasts and platforms, as well as media platforms throughout the Bell Media family. In-store displays will also be set up in grocery stores across Canada. In 2010, the Kraft Celebration Tour won a Silver PROMO! Award for Brand Awareness during the inaugural year of the tour in 2009.
Fans of the Kraft Celebration Tour can join the tour's Fan Page on Facebook, follow the tour and its personalities on Twitter, and get a behind-the-scenes look at life on the road with Kraft Celebration Tour blogs on TSN.ca.
