Confed Players, Founders Hall find new operators

Costumed historical guides, the Confederation Players, have found a new home at the Confederation Centre for the Arts.

The future of the players was in limbo after Tourism Charlottetown dropped them, along with a number of events at the beginning of March.

The players are a popular tourist attraction in Charlottetown, performing vignettes of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference at Province House and guiding walking tours through the city.

Confederation Centre announced Monday it would take over the troupe with some funding support from Prince Edward Island 2014 Inc., the organization heading up the planning for the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference.

The conference was where Canadian Confederation was first negotiated in 1864.

Jesse Inman is CEO of Confederation Centre.

"We are absolutely excited to take on this program. We believe that we can bring new vitality and artistic interpretation to it and we are so excited that we are adding to the troupe numbers," Inman said. "And we believe we can really make it a vital part of our programming here at the Confederation Centre."

There was also information Monday about other venues Tourism Charlottetown dropped.

Both the Founders Hall exhibit and Visitor Information Centre have already reopened under the management of the Charlottetown Harbour Authority.

Summerfest has been taken over by the group that presents the Cavendish Beach Music Festival. A lineup of Maritime acts is expected to be announced this week.

Also, The City of Charlottetown said it is in talks with two or three groups that have expressed interest in taking over the Jack Frost winter festival.

An announcement on that is expected in the next couple of months.