CBC throws open its doors

CBC is throwing open its doors and inviting Canadians to come on in and celebrate Culture Days 2011.

This weekend, Canada's national public broadcaster will join in the country's signature annual cultural event - and celebrate its 75th anniversary bringing the art of broadcasting to Canadians - with special events and unique, once-in-a-lifetime programming.

"For 75 years, our role as the national public broadcaster has been to bring Canadians together," said Kirstine Stewart, CBC's executive vice president of English services. "I can think of no better way to do that than to hold a national open house to celebrate Culture Days 2011 - and everyone is invited. Come and see your CBC."

The national celebrations officially get underway in Vancouver, with a special kick-off event on Friday, headlined by country music sensation Johnny Reid, and culminating that night with a live concert broadcast hosted by CBC Q host Jian Ghomeshi. Featuring top Canadian acts like Stars, The Midway State and The New Pornographers, the concert will air across the country on CBC-TV as Midnight Music: A Concert for Culture Days at 12 p.m./12:30 NT. You can see the complete schedule, here.

Book-ending the national celebration is a suite of special programs and local events that will engage and entertain Canadians across the country.

In 32 cities, CBC/Radio-Canada will open its doors to give Canadians a glimpse from the other side of the camera, and behind the scenes on the sets of their favourite programs. This national open house is the high point of the CBC's 75th anniversary celebrations, which have been going strong since late August. Festivities will continue through November 2, the day the public broadcaster was established in 1936.

"Our employee's passion and know-how have been dazzling Canadians for 75 years on TV, radio, and the Web. We're very pleased to give people the chance to meet them and witness their passion first-hand," said CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Hubert T. Lacroix.

Lacroix added that "with our 75th anniversary festivities, again and again we've been reminded just how much Canadians are strongly attached to their public broadcaster. Our Open House event is a great opportunity for us to thank them for their support, and also reaffirm our commitment to bringing them content of the highest quality and a media experience they won't find anywhere else."

Families can take advantage of a wide range of rare experiences during the open houses, including appearing on camera, recording radio messages, going inside a satellite truck or learning how to produce a news story from start to finish. You can learn more about all the events in a one of our earlier 75th anniversary blogs. Also, visit our interactive map to find an open house happening in your area.

Please note: St. Boniface, Man., will be holding its open house event on Sept. 30, and Montreal's will continue for a second day on Sunday, Oct. 2.

If you can't make it out to any of the events, you can still follow all the action on CBC News and CBC Live, which will be posting updates, information and photos from Culture Days 2011 throughout the weekend. Also, be sure to follow the Twitter hashtag #cbc75.

Posted on Sep 30, 2011 11:29:29 AM