September 8 – 11, 2026
Shediac, NB
Every year, event professionals from across Atlantic Canada come together to share what they know, support one another, and leave feeling more connected to the people and the work that makes this industry so special.
The 2026 Summit in Shediac is your chance to be part of that.
Over four days, you will meet peers from all four provinces, hear from leaders who are shaping the future of events, and build the kind of relationships that carry you through the rest of the year. Whether you are running a community festival, managing a major sport event, leading a destination, or supplying the industry, there is a seat at the table for you.
And this year, we are building something a little different. Expect more hands-on learning, bolder conversations, and programming that reflects where our industry is headed.
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What to Expect
This year’s Summit will explore the topics that matter most to event professionals right now, including AI and digital tools, monitization of events, event safety and risk management, funding strategies, Indigenous tourism, event insurance, the festivalization of communities, and how climate is shaping the way we plan and deliver events.
The program is designed around connection. Industry roundtables, peer-to-peer learning, and social programming are woven throughout the week so you leave with new ideas, new relationships, and practical tools you can put to work immediately.
Keynote Speaker
Marie Zimmerman
Director of Projects and Partnerships - Regional Tourism Organization 4 Inc. (RTO4)
Marie Zimmerman has spent her career at the intersection of arts, tourism, and community, working with five Canadian arts festivals across music, dance, jazz, film, and literature. She has served as Artistic Director, Executive Director, strategic planner, and sustainability lead, helping festivals achieve net carbon zero and win national and international sustainability awards.
As a founding member of the Guelph Fab 5 (a collective of local arts festivals), Marie has built award-winning tourism initiatives and powerful creative partnerships among businesses, nonprofits, and government. She now serves as Director of Projects and Partnerships with Regional Tourism Organization 4 (RTO4) and is a 2024 recipient of the Three Rivers Woman of Distinction Award.
Her keynote will explore how community festivals and events can authentically grow into tourism draws without losing the heart of what makes them meaningful.
Joshua Counsil
Summit MC & Speaker, Entrepreneur & Founder of Good Robot Brewing
Summit MC
Joshua Counsil knows how to hold a room. As MC for the 2026 Summit, he brings the energy, humour, and timing that keep a multi-day event moving and an audience engaged from the welcome reception through to closing remarks.
Raised by murder mystery dinner theatre owners, Josh left an engineering career in 2014 to co-found Good Robot Brewing in Halifax with two friends. What started small has grown into three award-winning hospitality venues, a wholesale craft beer brand sold across Canada, and a B2B beverage manufacturing business. Along the way, Good Robot has earned Halifax Business of the Year, Innovator of the Year, and Storyteller of the Year from Food and Beverage Atlantic.
Josh has emceed and spoken at conferences, AGMs, and summits across the country, including the TIANS AGM and Atlantic Canada’s largest marketing conference. He speaks the language of our sector: tourism, hospitality, food and beverage, and the work of building experiences people actually remember.
Expect sharp insight, real stories, and plenty of laughs. We are glad to have him at the front of the room in Shediac.
FEATURED SPEAKERS:
Kevin Tanner
Executive Director, Dalhousie Arts Centre & Event Safety Alliance Canada
Kevin Tanner is an executive leader in arts, culture, and live events with a passion for bringing people together to share in incredible experiences. His career began as a Technical Director in theatre, advancing through production leadership roles before being appointed the Managing Director of Production at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Now, as the Executive Director of Dalhousie Arts Centre, Kevin is leading one of Atlantic Canada’s premiere legacy venues through an exciting strategic business transformation that will revitalize the organization’s cultural impact, reputation, and build financial stability.
Kevin is a two-time alumnus of Queen’s University, holding a Master of Arts in Arts Leadership and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) majoring in Drama. Committed to making arts spaces safer places, he has a certificate in Occupational Health & Safety from Toronto Metropolitan University and is a co-founder of the national not-for-profit Event Safety Alliance Canada. He is an avid competitive bagpiper, a curler, and, most importantly to him, a new dad.
Leah Deveau-McNeill
Director of Marketing Communications, VMG
With over nine years of experience in tourism and food marketing, Leah has built a strong track record of producing digital campaigns that generate awareness, engagement, and growth. She combines strategic insight, real-world industry understanding, and a talent for compelling storytelling to guide brands to long-term success.
Ray Gracewood
President, AREA 506 Ventures
Builder of brands, connector of people, life-giver to ideas, challenger of challenges. Over the past fifteen years, Ray Gracewood has focused his attention on building national brands in exciting consumer-focused industries, ideating and executing on world class events, and changing the way people feel about his home province of New Brunswick.
If you’ve cracked open an ice-cold Moosehead Radler around the world, attended AREA 506 in New Brunswick, or enjoyed the safety and consistency of legalized cannabis with Edison Cannabis Co. products across Canada, Ray’s has worked his way into your hearts, minds and wallets.
Starting as a passion project from a love of music, culture and local products – Ray is the founder and chairperson of AREA 506, a festival of music, culture and goods on the Saint John Waterfront. Since 2016, AREA 506 has grown to become a marquee celebration of our province including a remarkable shipping container village on the Saint John Waterfront featuring such acts as Interpol, Arkells, July Talk, Tegan & Sara, Strumbellas and Wintersleep. In 2022, Ray and his team evolved the AREA 506 project into one of the most unique visitor experiences in Canada by opening the AREA 506 Waterfront Container Village. This project reimagines what it is to be a Port City, and creates an incredible experience for local residents, tourists and visiting cruise passengers featuring 54 shipping containers, an incredible multi-tiered viewing deck, stage, vendor locations, food trucks, graffiti alley and more – right on the beautiful waterfront in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Karen Sherriffs
Deputy City Manager, Community Services, City of St. John’s
Karen Sherriffs led the 2025 Canada Games in St. John’s as Chief Executive Officer of the Host Society, guiding the event from bid through delivery. She now serves as Deputy City Manager of Community Services for the City of St. John’s, where her portfolio covers tourism, culture, events, recreation, housing and business growth.
Karen has spent more than two decades with the City of St. John’s, including fifteen years in management. Her Canada Games involvement dates back to 1998 and spans seven Games, including serving as Chef de Mission for Team Newfoundland and Labrador.
Emma MacKenzie
Manager of Events and Experiences, Venture for Canada
Chair, Event Atlantic
Emma MacKenzie recently joined Venture for Canada as Manager of Events and Experiences, planning and delivering events across the country that bring people together for conversations about Canada’s economy, entrepreneurship and the future of work.
Emma spent former years with Versatile Management Group in Charlottetown. She served as festival manager for the Jack Frost Winterfest, the PEI Festival of Wines and the PEI Spirits Festival, and worked across VMG’s conference portfolio. She also sat on the organizing committee for the 2023 Canada Games.
Emma is the current Chair of Event Atlantic.
Registration
Register for the 2026 Event Atlantic Summit
Your registration includes:
- Full access to all conference sessions and industry roundtables
- Welcome Reception
- Main Street Lunch Crawl
- Evening networking and live entertainment
- Event Atlantic Excellence Awards
- Event and tourism industry education programming
First-time attendee rate is new this year and is open to both members and non-members.
Never been to an Event Atlantic Summit before? This is your year. The first-time attendee rate is designed to make it easy for newcomers to experience what this community is all about.
2026 Registration Rates
Early Bird Rates (by June 30)
Member Rate: $299
Non-Member Rate: $425
First-Time Attendee: $250
Student Rate: $99
Members receive preferred pricing and year-round access to Event Atlantic programming and benefits.
After June 30th:
Member Rate: $399
Non-Member Rate: $525
First-Time Attendee: $350
Student Rate: $99
Schedule at a Glance
Tuesday, September 8th: Arrivals & Welcome
- Registration/Check-in (4:00 pm – 6:00 pm) – Hotel Shediac
- Welcome Reception (6:00 – 9:00 pm)
Beach Bash at Parlee Beach
Kick off the Summit with your toes in the sand. The Town of Shediac is hosting and sponsoring a proper East Coast lobster boil right on the beach.
*There will be transportation provided to and from the event going to and from Hotel Shediac starting at 5:30 pm.*
Wednesday, September 9th: Conference Day One & Evening Events
A full day of sessions, panels, and roundtables at the Shediac Multipurpose Centre (58 Festival Street).
- Registration (8:00 – 9:30 am) . – Shediac Multipurpose Centre, 58 Festival Street, Shediac
- Light Breakfast (8:30 – 9:30 am) – Shediac Multipurpose Centre, 58 Festival Street, Shediac
- Welcome & Greetings (9:30 – 9:45 am)
- KEYNOTE (9:45 – 10:45 am) – Authentic Experiences and Event Resiliency
Marie Zimmerman – Director of Projects and Partnerships with Regional Tourism Organization 4 (RTO4) - Networking Break (10:45 – 11:00 am)
- Hosting Big: Crisis, Community, and Legacy from Canada Games 2025 (11:00 – 11:50 am)
Karen Sherriffs, Deputy City Manager, Community Services (City of St.John’s) & former Chief Executive Officer of the 2025 Canada Games - Main Street Lunch Crawl (12:00 – 2:00 pm) – Discover Shediac’s culinary scene in small groups.
- Event Safety: The Audacity of Reasonableness (2:15 – 3:15 pm)
Kevin Tanner, Event Safety Alliance Canada
Be reasonable!” we’re told… but what does that mean?! How do we know what ‘reasonable’ is? What does it mean to be reasonable when it comes to planning events and how do we know if we’ve been reasonable enough to keep everyone safe? In this session, we’ll explore what the law can tell us about our responsibilities as event operators and how we can recognize, assess, and control hazards We’ll apply these concepts in real-world examples and learn how to have the audacity to be reasonable. - Dinner on Your Own (5:00 – 7:00 pm) – Enjoy local restaurants at your leisure.
- Board Dinner (5:00 – 7:00 pm) – For board members (location TBD).
- TRIVIA: Evening Activity (7:00 – 9:00 pm) – Connect with peers in the festival tent for trivia night!
- Live Music (9:00 pm – midnight) – Relax at the Hotel Shediac restaurant with live entertainment.
Thursday, September 10th: Conference Day Two & Excellence Awards
Another full day of programming at the Shediac Multipurpose Centre.
That evening, join us for the Event Atlantic Excellence Awards, where we celebrate the people, events, and organizations making an impact across Atlantic Canada. Nominations close August 3rd, 2026.
- Light Breakfast (8:30 – 9:30 am) – Shediac Multipurpose Centre, 58 Festival Street, Shediac
- Trend, Tactic or Total Waste of Time? What’s Actually Working in Event Marketing Right Now (9:30 – 10:30 am)
Leah Deveau-McNeill, Versatile Management GroupEvent marketers are constantly told they need to embrace the next big thing: AI, TikTok, influencers, user-generated content, trending audio, new platforms and increasingly complicated ad strategies. But which approaches are actually helping events sell tickets, build loyalty and reach new audiences, and which are simply creating more work?
This session cuts through the noise to examine what is genuinely working in event marketing right now. Using current examples and practical insights, it explores how event organizers can distinguish short-lived trends from repeatable tactics, decide where to invest their limited time and budgets, and build a marketing mix that supports real event goals.
- Networking Break (10:30 – 10:45 am)
- Industry Roundtable (10:45 – 11:45 am)
- Lunch and Event Atlantic AGM & Special Resolution (12:00 – 1:30 pm)
- Sponsorship in a New Era : Food & Beverage activations (1:30 – 2:30 pm)
- Networking Break (2:30 – 2:45 pm)
- When Things Go Wrong: Crisis Management & Emergency Preparedness
(2:45-3:45 pm) Marie Zimmerman – Director of Projects and Partnerships with Regional Tourism Organization 4 (RTO4) - Dinner on Your Own (5:00 – 7:00 pm) – Enjoy local restaurants at your leisure.
- Event Atlantic Excellence Awards & Mingle, Mix & Masterpiece (7:00 – 9:00 pm) Celebrate outstanding achievements in our industry under the festival tent & end the night with a fun art inspired activity.
- Post‑Awards Gathering (9:00 pm – midnight) – Join us back at the Hotel Shediac restaurant and bar for live music and networking.
Friday, September 11th: Optional Experiences - Experience Shediac
- Board Meeting (9:00 – 10:00 am) – Hotel Shediac, Board Meeting
- Optional Activity (2:00 – 4:00 pm) – Add‑on activities such as a Shediac Bay Cruise (fee may apply). Additional information will be sent to registrants upon signup.
- Evening (3:00 pm – late) – Stay for the Hom’Art Festival, Shediac’s celebrated live art competition and cultural gathering. Summit attendees who extend their stay can experience an evening of art, music, food, and community. The Hom’Art Festival’s grand finale takes place on Saturday, September 12, making this the perfect reason to add an extra night.
Accommodations
Official Host Hotel
Hotel Shediac
A special room block has been secured at Hotel Shediac for Event Atlantic Summit attendees.
📍 Conveniently located near downtown Shediac and close to evening programming and networking events.
How to Book
To reserve a room:
📞 Local: 506-532-6100
📞 Toll Free: 1-855-836-6100
📧 reservations@hotelshediac.ca
Please reference: “Event Atlantic 2026” when making your reservation.
Official Room Block has ended and availability is limited.
We recommend booking early to ensure availability.
Room Types & Rates
Additional Accommodations options with room blocks
Shores Inn & Hotel – Still Availability
653 Main Street, Shediac
21 rooms at a flat rate of $129 + taxes per night.
How to book: Book online at shoresinnandhotel.com using promo code ATLANTIC139, or call 1-506-532-5563 and mention Event Atlantic.
Bower Boutique Hotels (Tait House) – Still Availability
293 Main Street, Shediac (1.1 km from venue)
5 unique rooms ranging from $219 to $279 + taxes per night, including options with tower views, garden views, and soaker tubs.
How to book: Phone only. Call 1-506-381-6761 and mention Event Atlantic.
Hôtel Gabriel – Still Availability
296 Main Street, Shediac (900 m from venue)
12 rooms ranging from $129 to $239 + taxes per night, including standard, queen, superior, junior suites, and suites with water views and jet tubs.
How to book: Phone only. Call 1-506-381-6761 and mention Event Atlantic.
Our Sponsors
Sponsor the 2026 Event Atlantic Summit
Partner with the region’s leading event professionals.
The Event Atlantic Summit brings together municipal leaders, festival organizers, tourism partners, venues, suppliers, and industry decision-makers from across Atlantic Canada.
Sponsorship offers:
- Direct access to event leaders and municipal decision-makers
- Brand visibility across four provinces
- On-site activation opportunities
- Recognition during the Event Atlantic Excellence Awards
- Digital promotion before and after the Summit
Whether you’re looking to build relationships, increase brand awareness, or demonstrate your commitment to Atlantic Canada’s event industry, we’d love to explore partnership opportunities.
Get Involved
Want to be part of the Summit beyond attending?
We are looking for volunteers to help bring this year’s Summit to life. Whether you can lend a hand for a few hours or the full event, we would love to have you. Volunteering is a great way to meet people, get behind the scenes, and contribute to something meaningful for the sector.
We are also building our session lineup and want to hear from you. If you have a topic, a story, or a perspective that would resonate with event professionals across Atlantic Canada, we want to know about it. Panel ideas, solo presentations, case studies, interactive workshops: all formats are welcome.
Reach out to hello@eventatlantic.ca to put your name forward as a volunteer or speaker.
We look forward to seeing you in Shediac.