Brantford Station Neighbourhood Association (BSNA), in partnership with the City of Brantford, hosted a slam dunk movie night at City View Park on Saturday, August 29, 2026.
Residents and neighbours spent the evening playing games, catching up with friends and indulging in tasty treats before tucking in to watch Warner Bros.’ 1996 family-friendly film Space Jam.
“Tonight is our big Movie in the Park event and we have several partners here with us,” said Chad Martin, BSNA Chair. “We’ve got SideWalk Joy, the Brantford Green Team, Alex [Donnelly] who is raising money for Camp BUCKO and Life After Burns with his lemonade stand, and Lonnie’s, which is doing an incredible job. They provided all the cookies for our s’mores, as well as the popcorn for the evening. We’ve had all sorts of things happening tonight. Earlier, we were serving pierogies, and we’ve also got face painting and games, our public living room setup and we just wrapped up the Slam Dunk competition.”
Martin continued, saying the free event is all about giving residents the chance to come together as a community.
“It’s about just bringing people together and having fun. Everyone can come out, have some dinner, watch a movie, and enjoy themselves. What’s great is that, aside from Alex’s lemonade stand, everything here is free. Our big focus with an event like this is removing barriers, and so a family that maybe can’t afford to go to the movies, can come here and enjoy the experience,” he said. “Here, everyone is equal because it’s just about coming together, building community and showing what we can do with the help of a few volunteers on a beautiful evening. You know, these kids and parents might meet a neighbour they’ve never talked to before or they might even run into someone they’ve known for years. These kids might make life-long friendships by coming to an event like this, and that’s what it’s all about.”
The event marked the third year the neighbourhood association has hosted the event, and Martin said he was pleased to see families of all ages out for the evening.
“Last year we did The Wild Robot and the year before that was Jumanji. We try to pick a movie that is perfect for the whole family, right? Something that’s great for all ages – mom, dad, and the grandparents – everyone can come out and watch it,” he said. “It really is awesome to see everyone here. If you look around, we’ve got parents playing with their kids, there’s no restrictions and everyone’s getting to enjoy themselves, it’s really great to see.”
The BSNA, among many of the other neighbourhood associations, is known for putting on a host of events, many of which are coming up soon.
“We’ve got lots more coming up in our neighbourhood specifically,” said Martin. “We have Pokémon event coming up on September 13, we’re starting hatha yoga in the park on September 10, of course the Poppy Project is really starting to ramp up, and then Halloween is going to be big for us too.”
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.
