North America's Floating Movie Theatre Returns

Toronto Port Authority

Toronto Port Authority

Free Three-day Movie Festival August 15 to 17

TORONTO, July 10, 2013 /CNW/ - Toronto Port Authority (TPA) is bringing back its highly anticipated free movie festival, Sail-In Cinema™, to the city's waterfront. For three nights in August, Sugar Beach will be transformed into Toronto's largest outdoor theatre where lovers of film and the outdoors alike can watch movies on a two-sided screen anchored to a barge on Lake Ontario.

From August 15 to 17 Torontonians, their families and friends, will be able to enjoy movies from land or boat, starting at dusk (approximately 8:45 p.m.) on each of the three nights. The two-sided screen 700-pound screen is four stories tall and will sit on a 60 x 90 foot floating barge.

"Now in its third year, Sail-In Cinema™ has become a fixture on the city's summer calendar," says Geoffrey Wilson, TPA President and CEO. "We expect this year's festival to be even bigger and better and are proud to be one of the unique reasons Torontonians can enjoy and rediscover the waterfront."

The inaugural Sail-In Cinema™ was held in 2011 to mark TPA's hundredth anniversary and the festival has won several accolades including a Silver Award of Excellence, Best Special Events Project (2013) and Gold at Marketing Magazine's Marketing Awards for best Experiential/Stunts/Events initiative (2011).

As in previous years, the public will be invited to vote for the three movies that will show at this year's event. Once the movies have been chosen, free landside tickets will be available from the Sail-In Cinema™ website; boaters will not require tickets. Sail-In Cinema™ is the only major movie event in Toronto where boaters can anchor their boats and watch movies in Lake Ontario.

About the Toronto Port Authority (www.torontoport.com)

The Toronto Port Authority (TPA) owns and operates Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, the Port of Toronto (Terminals 51 and 52), and Toronto's Outer Harbour Marina. In addition to moving more than two million passengers through the airport in 2012, the Port Authority provides transportation, distribution, storage and container services to businesses at the Port, and owns and operates Toronto's largest freshwater marina. The Toronto Port Authority was incorporated on June 8, 1999 as a government business enterprise under the Canada Marine Act as the successor to the Toronto Harbour Commissioners.

Sail-In Cinema™ Fact Sheet

• Toronto Port Authority's Sail-In Cinema™ is the world's first two-sided floating movie experience
• Audiences will be able to watch movies from land or boat at Sugar Beach (25 Dockside Drive). Boaters will be able to tune in on their radios to hear movie sound
• The 2013 event runs August 15 to 17 with three hero-themed movie screenings beginning at sundown (approximately 8:45 p.m.)
• Sail-In Cinema's 2013 movie line up will be determined through public voting
• The two-sided, inflatable screen has a 40 x 20-foot viewing surface, sits in a 46 x 37-foot frame (four stories tall) and weighs more than 700 pounds
• The two-sided screen will sit on a 60-foot-wide by 90-foot-long barge custom-made for the event. The barge will be anchored approximately 150 feet south of the docks at Canada's Sugar Beach (located at 25 Dockside Drive, Toronto)
• Landside admittance will be ticketed and access will be on a first-come first-served. Tickets are free and will be available at www.sailincinema.com. Tickets are not required for waterside viewing, although viewing space is limited and boats will be able to drop anchor on a first-come first-served basis
• Toronto Port Authority launched the inaugural Sail-In Cinema in 2011 as part of its centennial celebrations
• Sail-In Cinema™ saw more than 2,000 moviegoers and 70 boats attend the unique movie experience in 2012
• Sail-In Cinema's 2012 movie line up featured The Poseidon Adventure, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Hook
• Sail-In Cinema™ has won several awards including a Silver Award of Excellence in the Best Special Events Project category for Sail-In Cinema™ at the 2013 Canadian Public Relations Society's National Awards of Excellence; Certificate of Merit for advertising from the The Advertising & Design Club of Canada in 2012; Gold at Marketing Magazine's Marketing Awards for best Experiential/Stunts/Events initiative of 2011, Silver for best in Commercial Services at the Media Innovation Awards in 2011

Event website: www.sailincinema.com

Image with caption: "Landside audience at Sail-In Cinema™ (CNW Group/Toronto Port Authority)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130710_C6623_PHOTO_EN_28917.jpg

Image with caption: "Boat and landside audiences at Sail-In Cinema™ (CNW Group/Toronto Port Authority)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130710_C6623_PHOTO_EN_28918.jpg

SOURCE: Toronto Port Authority

Pamela McDonald, Director, Communications and Public Affairs 
Tel: [phone] or [phone] (mobile) 
E-mail: [email protected]