Over 700 Brantford-Brant residents attended the Children’s Safety Village of Brant’s fifth annual Easter egg hunt on Saturday, April 4, 2026.
Throughout the free event, excited youngsters explored the miniature-sized town and participated in various Easter themed activities in exchange for a treat.
“On top of hunting for Easter eggs, there’s eight different games and activities for the kids to do. Once they’ve collected their eggs and gotten a stamp for each activity, they come inside and exchange all of that for a treat bag,” said Leo Vos, board president of the Children’s Safety Village. “We also have our fundraiser barbeque going on outside, and the Magnum Ice Cream Company is handing out free ice cream bars. Inside, we’ve got some movies playing, along with popcorn and a face painter too, so there’s lots of fun things to do.”
Even with the rainy weather, children happily took turns running from station to station, participating in the various activities such as corn hole toss, bunny bowling, hop scotch and pin-the-tail-on-the-bunny. Many also took the opportunity to play on the village’s wooden train or run around the playground.
With members of the Brant OPP, Brantford Police Service (BPS), Brantford-Brant Paramedic Service Brantford Fire, and the County of Brant Fire Department all on site, the youngsters had the opportunity to learn various safety tips and explore one of the many first responder vehicles.
Vos said that while the rain may have affected the turnout, the Safety Village and its volunteers were happy to still be able to provide a free event for the community.
“It’s great to put this on for everyone, we always get fantastic community support and that’s something we really appreciate. This event always brings in new people but we also get people coming year after year once they know about it, so it’s nice,” he said. “Usually we get pretty good weather so we typically bring in anywhere between 2,000 to 2,200 people throughout the event, but with the rain there won’t be as many. With that being said though, we’ve only been open for an hour and half, and the last I checked, we were almost at 700 so that’s still good.”
Wiviany Carvalho, who was there with her daughter Ava, said this was their fourth time attending the event.
“I like that everyone is so careful and attentive with the kids,” she said. “We always feel safe letting her run around and have fun. I have to thank the people that put this on because it’s a free event too. I think it’s very important for the community to be able to have and enjoy an event like this.”
When asked what her daughter enjoyed most about the event, Carvalho said it was the face painting.
“She loves to look for the Easter eggs, but the face painting is just her favourite,” said the mother. “She always gets so excited.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
