On August 16, 2007, Festival Antigonish celebrated its 20th anniversary season and marked the milestone achievement with the announcement of an endowment fund to be managed by the Festival Antigonish Foundation.

At a brunch in his home on Sunday, August 19th, with the inaugural donors in attendance plus the Festival Antigonish company and staff, longtime Festival supporter, Brian MacLeod, Chair of the Foundation, launched this exciting initiative by announcing initial pledges to the endowment fund of $325,000.

"We plan to increase that figure pretty quickly," said MacLeod. "Our target is one million dollars. We’ll manage the fund so that the principal is untouched and increased by further donations over time, while the interest is donated annually to the Festival’s operating budget – we’ll put the money right on the stage."

This was music to the ears of Ed Thomason, the Festival’s Artistic Producer, who had worked with MacLeod over several months to secure those pledges.

"Festival Antigonish has always had strong support from local people," he said. "This new Foundation signals in a big way the community’s commitment to sustaining Festival Antigonish for another twenty years. It’s a major development and very exciting."

As well as Brian and Irene MacLeod of The MacLeod Group, the list of inaugural donors includes Steve and Kathy Smith from Central Home Improvement, John and Ann Chisholm of Nova Construction, Harley and Wendy MacCaull of A.A.Munro Insurance, Tony and Jenny Overmars of Tony's Meats, Dr Minoli Amit and Dr John Hamilton; from Pictou, Frank and Debbie Sobey, and from Halifax, David and Margaret Fountain.

2010 Board of Directors
• Chair: Brian MacLeod, CEO, MacLeod Group
• Vice-Chair: Harley MacCaull President, A.A. Munro Insurance
• Treasurer: H. Ramsay Duff, V.P. Finance & Operations, St. Francis Xavier University
• Secretary: Madonna Van Vonderen, Administrator, Festival Antigonish
• Steve Smith: Chairman & CEO, Central Home Improvement
• John W. Chisholm, CEO, Nova Construction
• Frank Sobey, Chairman, Crombie REIT
• Julia Redgrave, Chair, Festival Antigonish
• Ed Thomason, Artistic Producer, Festival Antigonish
• Marc Champoux, Branch Manager & VP, BMO Nesbitt Burns
• John Hamilton, Ophthalmologist, St. Martha's Hospital
• Eric Atkinson, Partner, MacIntosh MacDonnell & MacDonald

"Brian won’t say it himself but I will," observed Thomason. "This is an impressive group, proven achievers, who will guide Festival Antigonish to a secure, sustainable and exciting future."