By Charles Lefebvre

Cirque du Soleil’s Crystal made positive economic impact in Medicine Hat

Jun 1, 2018 | 8:19 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — It’s the most successful show in the Canalta Centre’s brief history, and they have the numbers to back it up.

Cirque du Soleil’s Crystal wrapped up its run on Sunday. On Friday, the Canalta Centre released a report into the economic impact of the show.

The seven performances brought an estimated $2.5 million into the local economy. Of the money, approximately $765,000 is new spending by visitors who travelled from outside of Medicine Hat.

“I’m incredibly excited,” said Tammy Sweeney, the Canalta Centre’s general manager. “This is why we’re here, this is why this building is here. It’s a community centre and we had this amazing show that was here for five days, and then a couple of days of prep around that.”

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The Canalta Centre says 15,230 people attended Crystal over the five days, with many coming from outside Medicine Hat. Sweeney adds there were many people from Montana who came to see the event.

Sweeney adds attendance grew throughout the run.

“People came on the Wednesday night, got excited, other people bought tickets, we had hundreds of tickets sold for the Sunday show on Saturday alone,” she said. “People were excited by the buzz in the community, so it was excited to see.”

Sweeney says she wants to be able to build on the success of Crystal.

“I will be sharing the numbers with people, I’ll be sharing the economic impact with people, showing them pictures of how Cirque operated in our building, the full crowds,” she said. “It’s sharing and telling that story. I’m knocking on doors and ringing phones every single day to get promoters to take notice of what Medicine Hat can do for them.”

Sweeney says they hope to bring events of the calibre of Crystal to Medicine Hat. She adds she hopes to bring Cirque du Soleil back to Medicine Hat in the future, but adds it will likely be another two to three years before it happens.