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Doors Open Waterloo Region releases final digital episodes

Waterloo Region – The Region of Waterloo’s 18th annual Doors Open event launched earlier this summer as an entirely virtual experience to deliver fascinating stories with unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to some of the region’s most interesting sites.

Eight episodes will premiere in tandem on September 19 (the traditional Doors Open Waterloo Region date, the third Saturday in September).

“While the traditional format of Doors Open has been a staple event for Waterloo Region, this digital alternative has provided a level of access which is often not possible to deliver during an in-person event,” said the Region’s Director of Cultural Services, Helen Chimirri-Russell. “We’ve been able to tell intriguing stories about some of the Region’s many outstanding heritage sites, cultural highlights and inspiring businesses.”

Find out what it’s like to manage an airport, live in a museum, work in a crematorium or build robots. How do you conserve a 500-year-old canoe or design an outdoor mural? Who decided to film the Handmaid’s Tale in Cambridge? How does a dam in Centre Wellington protect Waterloo Region? What’s a living sculpture and how did the world’s largest one find its way to Cambridge? How did two local farms reframe their family operations to create hit niche products? How did Waterloo Region’s first rainbow community space come to fruition? What is sympathetic deconstruction? Why are butterflies so iconic and what are the base ingredients for craft beer (besides passion)?

Digital Doors Open Waterloo Region provides meaningful, quality experiences delivered through video storytelling, in celebration of the region’s diverse community culture, heritage and architecture. 

Each video episode is five to 10 minutes long and debuts online and on Rogers Television.

The first eight of 16 video episodes are now available online. The remaining eight episodes will be released on the Region of Waterloo’s YouTube Channel at 10 a.m. on September 19, 2020.

Available starting September 19:
Episode 9: SPECTRUM - Waterloo Region's First Rainbow Community Space
Episode 10: Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory
Episode 11: Clearpath Robotics
Episode 12 & 13: Handmaid's Tale – Filming in Cambridge (two parts)
Episode 14: Region of Waterloo International Airport
Episode 15: Waterloo Brewing
Episode 16: Mural Artist Stephanie Boutari & Adam Schwartzentruber of BOKO Studio

After watching each new episode, viewers are invited to click the link in the video’s description to access the entry form for the Virtual Scavenger Hunt and enter to win $25 in BIA dollars from Downtown Cambridge, Downtown Kitchener or Uptown Waterloo.

Currently available episodes:
Episode 1: Parkview Crematorium
Episode 2: Shand Dam
Episode 3: Curatorial Centre at the Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum
Episode 4: Brubacher House 
Episode 5: Timeless Material Co.
Episode 6: Tapestry Hall
Episode 7: Eby Manor Golden Guernsey Milk
Episode 8: Martin’s Family Fruit Farm

Join the Doors Open Waterloo Region mailing list to receive updates and notifications when episodes are released. Mailing list members are eligible to win exclusive prizes throughout September.

Follow Doors Open on InstagramTwitter and Facebook for news and previews leading up to the launch of each episode, or for more information, visit regionofwaterloo.ca/doorsopen.and engagewr.ca/doors-open-waterloo-region-2020

Doors Open Waterloo Region is part of Doors Open Ontario, a province-wide initiative of the Ontario Heritage Trust to celebrate community heritage and architecture.

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For further information contact:

Doors Open Waterloo Region Coordinators
Scott McNair & Kelly Spencer
DoorsOpen@regionofwaterloo.ca
(519) 465-7908