The roots of Events Wood Buffalo trace back to a group of committed volunteers who formed the Fort McMurray interPLAY Society. Envisioned as a Festival for Youth, the first interPLAY Festival was held on Franklin Avenue between Hardin and Main streets in 1990. Its list of Presidents includes Trish Blackburn, Louise Gigliotti, Carole Lawrie, Barb Galbraith, and Russell Thomas. Festivals were held every year with the exception of 1995, a year when the Society needed to regroup after running into difficult financial times. interPLAY returned in 1996 and was held in a smaller format up at the Thickwood Heights Arena and Community Centre. The following year, interPLAY returned to Franklin Avenue, where it remained until its 20th anniversary in 2010, the final frenzy on Franklin before moving to its new location on King Street.
The idea of evolving into Events Wood Buffalo was hatched in the fall of 2008. Thanks to sustainable funding provided by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Executive Director Claude A. Giroux was hired early the following year and lured to Fort McMurray from his post as Producing Artistic Director at the Allenberry Playhouse in Pennsylvania. Pavlina Vaverka was brought on as the organization’s Business Manager later that fall. From a staff of one, Events Wood Buffalo has grown in a short two-year span to having a full-time staff of six and a part-time complement of professionals that would number in the dozens, the folks who mobilize during the region’s marquee events: WinterPLAY Carnival, CanadaROCKS, interPLAY Festival, and SummersEND. We are an organization that specializes in organizing and executing major community events, and providing that expertise as a resource to the community and region.