Oakville Children's Festival: July 8, 2018

Oakville Children's Festival a huge success!

National treasure and four-time Juno Award winner Fred Penner wowed the crowd at the 2018 Oakville Children’s Festival! Thousands attended the festival at Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre (QEPCCC), where the grounds were transformed into an arts and culture playground for kids of all ages and abilities!

The sun and smiles were both shining at this year’s Oakville Children’s Festival. We hope you had as much fun as we did! Please take a few moments to complete our Festival Survey for a chance to win a signed Fred Penner print. What did you enjoy and what can we enhance for next year? Survey closes August 10.

Visit our Facebook page to see photos from the event!

Thanks and see you next year!

Oakville Children's Festival

Franklin and Friends!

Here are the great performers from 2018!

As well as Fred Penner, iconic Canadian cartoon character Franklin the Turtle performed in a live musical production of Franklin and Friends Playdate!

Included in the festival line-up were performances by:

award-winning Kaeja d’Dance Company performed the crowd pleasing interactive dance piece Flock Landing.
musicians and environmentalists Enviro Drum performed and educated the crowd on smart environmental choices!

Families also enjoyed Oakville Public Library storytimes featuring illustrator Paul Covello and his new book Everyday ABC.

Keep an eye out for the 2019 Oakville Children's Festival announcements!

Fun for all ages and abilities!

Visitors enjoyed the City Parent Scavenger Hunt, Friends of Oakville Public Library Book Sale, Halton Green Screens Amateur Film Festival screenings, Sport Oakville Zone, Touch-A-Truck, face painting, free swimming, and more! Check out the 2018 Oakville Children's Festival Event Map (PDF).

There was also fun hands-on activities and demos with groups including:

Adventure Running Kids
Allegro School of Dance
Aspects of Dance
Balletomane Inc.
Bricks 4 Kidz
Burlington Ringette
Burl-Oak Theatre Group
Canadian Dance Company
CheerForce Inc.
Cogeco
Conservation Halton
Crock A Doodle Oakville
Faith Baptist Church
GEMS Learning Institute
Girl Guides of Canada

Halton Breast Feeding Initiative
Halton Environment Network
HMC Connections
Hopedale Community Nursery School
In-Line Family Chiropractic
Knowledge First Financial
Lakeside Volleyball
Landmark Sport Group
Merriam Music
Minerva's Creations
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
Mitara Toys & Stuff
Monkey Movers
Monkeynastix
Morningstar Taekwondo
My Gym Oakville

Oakville Arts Council
Oakville Galleries
Oakville Hornets Girls Hockey
Oakville Hydro
Oakville Parent-Child Centre
Oakville Soccer Club
Our Kids Network
Par-T-Perfect
Pirate Life
Professional Engineers of Ontario
Right to Play
Safari Science
Scouts of Oakville
Speckles Art Studio
Sport Oakville
Sylvan Learning of Oakville
Toraguchi Martial Arts
Toronto Pearson

A big thank you to the thousands who used the free Oakville Transit Shuttle!

The free Oakville Transit shuttle service picked up visitors from the Bronte GO Station bringing them to the Oakville Children's Festival.

The shuttle service helped visitors avoid traffic congestion by taking the free shuttle from Bronte GO station to Queen Elizabeth Park which departed approximately every five minutes depending on the line.

All shuttles are accessible, wheelchair and stroller-friendly.

A free bike corral was available to park bikes safely.

Please note: Vehicle parking was not available on site and on-street parking restrictions was enforced throughout the neighbourhood. This allows easy access for emergency vehicles.

We've partnered with the Halton Environmental Network to help protect and sustain our environment!

We eliminated our printed programs to work towards becoming a zero waste event. We also requested that our vendors provide biodegradable plates and utensils, and banned the sale of water bottles on site.

We had the Halton Environmental Network volunteer waste diversion team at the festival! They educated visitors about waste consumption and how everyone can make a difference!

Here's what you can do to help:

Pack a litterless lunch and snacks using reusable storage containers.
Bring a reusable water bottle and fill up at our water stations.
Help the Green Team by sorting recyclables, organics and garbage into the correct bins. Or take your food packaging home with you.
Ride your bike and park in our free, monitored bike corral.
Carpool to the Bronte GO Station and take the free Oakville Transit shuttle!

Visit the Halton Environment Network booth on site or http://haltonenvironet.ca/ for more information.

The food options at the 2018 festival included:

The Kinsmen Club of Oakville BBQ lunch, plus many of the GTA’s most popular food trucks:

Alternatively, attendees were encouraged to bring a litterless lunch and a reusable bottle for use at the festival water stations.

We've partnered with the Halton Environmental Network to help protect and sustain our environment! This year, we requested that our vendors provide biodegradable plates and utensils, and banned the sale of water bottles on site.

Click on the Zero Waste heading for more information.

Questions about the Oakville Children's Festival?

For general inquiries about the Oakville Children's Festival, please email events@oakville.ca.

Local community groups and organizations interested in participating at this year's festival, please email daniel.ridsdale@oakville.ca.

Sponsorship inquiries can be sent to Robin Howarth, Festival Co-Chair at robin.howarth@oakville.ca.

Media and on-site promotional inquiries can be sent to Janine Ivings, Sponsorship and Marketing Supervisor at janine.ivings@oakville.ca.

Advertising inquiries for City Parent Scavenger Hunt and Loot Bag can be sent to Deb Pells, City Parent at dpells@cityparent.com.

Smile!

These photos/videos may be used in future Town of Oakville publications, promotional marketing collateral, website, social media, advertising, etc., without compensation. Have fun and share your festival experience.