Thousands of residents and out-of-town visitors are expected to attend this year’s Brantford International Villages Cultural Festival, which will run from Wednesday, July 2 to Saturday, July 5, 2025.
The four-day festival was originally started back in 1974 as a way to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the invention of the telephone, and the event has been a staple in the community ever since.
“The festival usually consists of various cultural villages, and these venues are peppered throughout the city in churches, community halls and ethnic halls. Each village venue is really responsible for shaping its own unique atmosphere, and that typically consists of their food, culture and entertainment, as well as a little bit of drink mixed in there too,” said Chris Tolhurst, a long-time volunteer and a member of the Villages’ Board of Directors. “In the early days, the festival originally ran for a full two-weeks but it was eventually shortened down to two weekends, though it’s been running for just four days for a number of years now. With that being said, after the pandemic hit, some of the villages lost a number of volunteers and so while a majority are open all four days, some are only running for two.”
When asked why he thought the event was so popular, Tolhurst said he believed that a lot of it had to do with consistency.
“This is something that people can count on happening year in, and year out, right? It’s always held around the same time every single year and they know it’s a great time. I think it’s the anticipation, the excitement, the energy, and just the overall atmosphere of the festival itself,” he said. “There’s really no other festival like it in Ontario; I mean of course you could go to something like the Taste of Danforth in Toronto and you may get some of the same elements that we have, but there’s something about the Villages that is just so unique, you know? It’s about the diversity of culture within our community and that’s why we easily bring in around 11,000 visitors annually.”
During this year’s event, attendees will have the chance to visit 15 villages, including the: Chinese, East Coast Canada, Hungarian, India, Italian, Muslim, New York, Palestinian, Philippine, Polish Polonaise, Polish Warszawa, Scottish, Ukrainian, United Africa and the Great Indian villages.
For $10, attendees can purchase a passport, either in advance or on the day of, which will grant them access to all 15 villages scattered across the city, as well as free bus transportation with three different pre-determined routes.
Upon arrival to every village, visitors will receive a stamp and for those who collect four, they can then enter into a draw for three different prize packs, which include a four weekend general admission passes to the Call Home Music Festival, a free one-night stay at the Home 2 Suites by Hilton Brantford, and a Brantford Bulldogs prize pack.
Prize two includes four passes to the 167th annual Paris Fair, a Brantford Red Sox prize pack and dinner for two at the Field House Restaurant.
Prize three includes two tickets to a show at the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts, a six-month swim pass to the Best Western Brantford Hotel and Conference Centre and dinner for two at Rangoli Authentic Indian Cuisine.
Tolhurst said that while the festival undoubtedly takes a lot of work and long hours to pull off, the villages simply wouldn’t be possible without their incredible volunteers.
“The Villages is 100 per cent volunteer driven; without our volunteers, we have no festival. If you averaged it out, I would say that each village requires between a minimum of 30-ish volunteers, upwards to 50 volunteers, and so every single one of those venues are always looking for volunteers,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you have the time to volunteer the full four days, if you have just an hour or two to spare, or you’re just looking to get your volunteer hours to graduate high school, anything helps and so I always try to encourage people to reach out and see what they can do.”
Tolhurst also added that it’s thanks to their wonderful sponsors and community partners that they can not only offer a fun, and educational experience, but that they can give back to the community with prizes as well. He said because of their generous supporters, this year, the passport has been printed in full colour.
“Beyond our volunteers, our community partners and advertisers are very important in keeping the Festival going year after year,” he said.
For those interested in attending the festival, the full schedule can be found on the website here: https://www.brantfordvillages.ca/index.php
As well, passports are now available and can be purchased at the following places: The Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts, the Brantford Tourism Centre and the Best Western Brantford Hotel and Conference Centre.
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.
