Come From Away to join Anne on mainstage of 2026 Charlottetown Festival

The first Charlottetown Festival shows of 2025 haven't hit the stage yet, but plans for next year's edition are already in the works.

And a decade after it debuted, the Tony-nominated musical Come From Away will finally make its way to P.E.I. in the form of a co-production with Neptune Theatre in Halifax, the festival announced Monday. 

It will join the ever-popular standard Anne of Green Gables — The Musical, which is now presented in Charlottetown every two summers, to headline the 2026 festival.

Anne will be first up at the Sobey Family Theatre at the Confederation Centre of the Arts, running from June 25 to Aug. 29. Come From Away will be staged from July 2 until Sept. 26.

"Next summer will be a historic doubleheader featuring two of the most successful Canadian musicals ever written," Adam Brazier, the artistic director of performing arts at the Confederation Centre, was quoted as saying in a news release.

"Since its premiere in 2015, Come From Away has been the most-requested show by Islanders and we are so excited to finally present it at the festival."

Anne of Green Gables — The Musical is based on the classic 1908 novel by Island author L.M. Montgomery, and was first staged in Charlottetown back in 1965. After a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show returned in 2022 with the festival saying it would be presented only every second year from then. 

Come From Away is based on the true story about what took place in the central Newfoundland town of Gander on Sept. 11, 2001, and the days immediately after.  

People from the town and surrounding communities opened their hearts and homes to about 7,000 passengers from 38 flights that were diverted from U.S. airspace to Gander's international airport, built in the days when overseas flights needed to stop for refueling before and after crossing the Atlantic. 

The musical's Broadway version was nominated for seven Tony Awards and won one, with later productions staged in Toronto and around the world.

"At a time of increasing divisiveness, this show resonates more than ever," Brazier was quoted as saying in the news release. "It is a story that reminds Canadians who we are in the world and what it means to be a good neighbour."

I cannot wait to bring the entire show across the Confederation Bridge and see the festival audiences experience  Come From Away,created here in Atlantic Canada.— Jeremy Webb

Jeremy Webb is the artistic director at Neptune Theatre.

"It has long been a dream of mine to have Neptune Theatre and the Charlottetown Festival to join creative forces on a show, and I can't think of a better title to see that happen," Webb was quoted as saying.

"It's an honour to work with Adam and his team on creating an East Coast production of this theatrical phenomenon. I cannot wait to bring the entire show across the Confederation Bridge and see the festival audiences experience Come From Away, created here in Atlantic Canada."

Tickets will go on sale in June, with centre members able to gain early access to tickets to the festival.