The town of Oakville has topped the list for most active communities in Canada engaging in the annual nationwide Culture Days festival held each fall.
The now annual Culture Days celebration in Oakville was ranked No. 1 overall in the Culture Days 2023 Top Participating Communities Listing. Culture Days this year took place from Sept. 22 to Oct. 15, 2023.
Oakville featured nearly 100 local events as part of the Halton Festival Hub across five hubs:
- Iroquois Ridge Community Centre/North Hub
- Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts/Central Southeast Hub
- Oakville Museum/Southeast Hub
- Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre/Southwest Hub
- The Crossing: Community Heritage Day
Participants explored creativity, artistic expression and more throughout the three-week celebration. Culture Days 2023 had record-breaking attendance with 4.4 million participants across Canada.
Julie Mitchell, Oakville's Director of Recreation and Culture, says that, "Culture Days provides our community with the opportunity to come together and celebrate what makes Oakville a vibrant and special community."
"I’m so proud of our staff who worked in partnership with our cultural community groups and local artists to put on yet another fantastic celebration showcasing Oakville’s arts, culture and creativity."
Two programs and showcases in Oakville also took home special awards: The World of Threads Festival, currently taking place at Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Culture Centre, and A Place I Call Home Halton program were recently recognized as recipients of Ontario Culture Days Festival’s 2023 Spotlight Recognition Program.
The World of Threads received the People’s Choice spotlight recognition, while A Place I Call Home Halton, organized by artist Faisal Anwar with the town of Oakville, town of Halton Hills, town of Milton, Museums of Burlington, and Halton Region, was recognized as the Best Collaborative Program.
These recognition awards acknowledge organizers who, through their leadership, have crafted festival programming aimed at breaking down barriers and nurturing a more equitable arts and culture sector in Ontario. The Ontario Culture Days website has the full list of this year's recipients.
For the second year in a row, the town was the top mid-size city again, followed by:
- Oakville, Ontario
- Halton Hills, Ontario
- Richmond, British Columbia
- Milton, Ontario
- Vaughan, Ontario
- St. Catharines, Ontario.
Oakville has been recognized over the past 12 years among the top 10 cities and towns in Ontario offering Culture Days festivities.
Culture Days is a national celebration of arts and culture that invited the public to get hands-on and behind-the-scenes and experience the importance of arts and cultures in our communities for free.
More information about the town’s annual Culture Days can be found on the town's website.