Toronto to host IIFA Awards in 2011

In December 2009 it was announced that members of the Indian Film Fraternity and the IIFA Advisory Board, Canada will be hosting the 2011 International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA). The IIFA Weekend and IDEA IIFA Awards ceremony will be held in the Greater Toronto Area from 16th -19th June 2011.

Joined by key members of the Indian Film Industry, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty also thanked IIFA for the honour of hosting the IIFA Weekend and Awards 2011 in Toronto. Toronto is an ideal choice for IIFA 2011 as it is considered as the global city which is very well known for it's culture and entertainment scene.

The announcement came at a green carpet celebration of cultural ties that bind nearly 600 thousand Ontarians to India. The IIFA Weekend will also cap a four-day celebration of Indian Cinema, including a Film Festival, various film briefings, a world-wide film premiere, a trade and business Forum, an IIFA Foundation event and escalate into the night of nights, the IDEA IIFA Awards.

The organizers have said that the decision for the 2010 edition will be announced soon. The first IIFA Awards were held at the Millennium Dome in London in 2000 and have gone on to various cities like Sun City, Dubai, Amsterdam, Singapore, Yorkshire amongst others, with the most recent being celebrated n Macau.

The IIFA Weekend is expected to witness over 500 people from the Indian film industry and about 40 thousand visitors to Toronto, with an international television audience of more than 350 million.