Friendship Festival ends on high note
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Chris Abbott
Editor
The 2026 Simcoe Heritage Friendship Festival ended on a high note Monday, August 3rd.
The four-day festival had a good crowd Friday, a great crowd Saturday – and a fantastic crowd Monday. Sunday, however, was rained out.
“We were watching the forecast in the days before… at the beginning of the week, it looked terrible,” said Sara Moody Veldhuis. “And then it cleared up - it was going to be perfect. Then a day or so later, no.”
It rained hard early Sunday morning, and continued to rain off-and-on Sunday afternoon and evening.
“The big problem for us, (Sunday) we had so much water… when it comes down like that, it pools. We’ve got a lot of electrical equipment, the vendors have a lot of electrical equipment, and we could not operate our stages.”
A decision was made to move the Lynwood Park car show to Monday’s rain date, but the grounds were still too wet and the car show was cancelled. Organizers were considering the possibility of a late August date for their 2026 show, which is a fundraising initiative for the Heritage Friendship Festival, and this year also for the food bank and Haldimand Norfolk REACH.
“Hopefully it will happen,” said Moody Veldhuis. “They worked so hard and they had such an incredible first show last year. It was amazing. It sold out last year, so they were expecting ‘bigger and better’ this year. They have such a great group of volunteers that do the car show.”
People returned in a big way Monday, lining up for food vendors, and the YTP KidsZone was packed. Buskers played at Wellington Park and Clifton Park, and there was music filled the air all-day Saturday and Monday at the Wellington Park Main/Side stages and the Clifton Park community stage.
“It takes a lot to put it (KidsZone) on,” Moody Veldhuis noted. “The people from Young Theatre Players really do a tremendous job. One of the things I’ve always said, ‘You’ve got to cater to families.’ That’s what this festival is all about. There’s a lot of adults today who went to it as kids. So it’s like a homegrown audience we’re building there.”
ABEL Enterprises’ annual Duck Race on Monday sold out (750 tickets), and with a brisk tailwind breeze, the ducks quickly floated down the Lynn River.
For almost 60 years, it’s been a free admission festival – and Moody Veldhuis said they plan to keep it that way.
“This is never going to be a ticketed event, that’s not what this is all about. We want ANYONE to be able to come here and have a good time. This is a community event we want people of all walks of life to be able to come here and just enjoy themselves.”
Church Out Serving had to move its Sunday morning outdoor service from Wellington Park to the nearby Salvation Army.
“Looking forward to hopefully making that happen next year, that’s a community event where people can come together, all denominations, and just enjoy each other’s presence. We also do a Sunday morning Gospel jam, so it would have been a nice carry-over.”
Sunday’s musical performers will all be invited back next year, she said.
“It’s sad that we couldn’t make it happen, but some big festivals all over the place got hit hard Sunday. It wasn’t just us. It’s an outdoor festival, you just have to ‘go with the flow.’ We’ve really been lucky.
“We’re sad about (Sunday), but ‘onwards and upwards’ we say. I think today (Monday) was a nice, tidy way to end the festival. Quite often we have a rain shower to end the festival… but I don’t think we’re going to get that today.”
PROFESSOR LOUIE
Music fans will want to see Professor Louie and the Crowmatix on Sunday, August 30th at the Polish Hall in Brantford. The Grammy nominated band from Woodstock, New York will be playing from 3-6 p.m. at the 154 Pearl Street location – Rock, Americana and Blues, celebrating the music of The Band. Mark Wilson and The Way It Is will also be on stage. Live music, good food.
Tickets $30 in advance (Homegrown Hideaway) or $35 at the door.
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