The 49th Rose d’Or Festival in Lucerne is to toss honorary Rose awards to veteran CBC programmer George Anthony and Canadian distributor Sheena Macdonald in May as it spotlights Canada.

The prestigious prize is handed out annually and recognizes performers, companies or individuals who have made a significant contribution to the entertainment industry.

Rose d’Or organizers, including festival director Urban Frye, will be in Toronto on Tuesday to make the announcement. Anthony, a longtime CBC programmer and currently creative consultant for arts and entertainment TV, and Macdonald, a partner at Rhombus Media for 20 years before recently joining the Canadian Film Centre, will join Quincy Jones, Ricky Gervais and Ben Silverman as past recipients of the award.

In addition to the honorary prize, the Rose d’Or Festival will award a series of trophies for individual performers in 10 categories, including for best comedy, sitcom and drama.

The Rose d’Or Festival will take place on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, May 2-5.