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When it comes to hosting fun and fabulous festivals, size doesn’t matter.
The Town of LaSalle was declared 2024 Municipality of the Year in the 50,000 population or less category at last week’s Festivals & Events Ontario gala and conference in Niagara Falls.
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And when it comes to Ontario’s best festival cities, LaSalle excelled last year in offerings for both young and old.
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An adults-only end-of-summer gathering won LaSalle one of Festivals & Events Ontario’s 2024 Best New Festival or Event Awards.
Music, dancing and a large selection of locally bottled wines and locally brewed beers on tap were the big draws last September as LaSalle hosted Last Call Before the Fall, designed in part to stretch out the local festival season.
LaSalle’s Strawberry Festival, popular with all ages, also took home an award at FEO’s ‘Imagine’ achievement Top 100 awards gala on Feb. 28 honouring the best of 2023.
Amherstburg had two Top 100 mentions — for River Lights Winter Festival and the town’s Uncommon Festival.
Kingsville’s Migration Fall Festival and the Essex Fun Fest were also Southwest Ontario Tourism Region winners, as was Windsor’s Carrousel of the Nations.
“We are deeply honoured to have Carrousel of the Nations be named among the Top 100 events in Ontario once again,” said Fred Francis, executive director of the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County.
The Windsor festival stretching over two summer weekends is an annual “vibrant celebration of diversity” with a broad array of local ethnic communities setting up ‘villages’ offering food, music and culture, entertainment and education.
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Last September, Carrousel of the Nations was named the province’s top festival and event for 2023 by Attractions Ontario. This year’s Carrousel runs June 14-16 and 21-23.
LaSalle won the same Municipality of the Year (population under 50,000) award that Amherstburg garnered last year. Amherstburg’s Open Air Weekends was also ranked the No. 1 destination in Festivals & Events Ontario’s Top 100 list a year ago.
Windsor and Essex County know how to party, as demonstrated by their dominance in this year’s SW Ontario region, winning six of 10 awards. The other winners were London’s Western Fair; Chatham’s Retrofest — Rims & Ribs; and Norfolk’s ‘Eat and Drink’ and County Fair & Horse Show.
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