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 8, to Saturday, July 11, 2026.
The four-day, volunteer-run festival was originally started back in 1974 as a salute to the centennial anniversary of the invention of the telephone, and the event has been a staple in the community ever since.
In an interview with the Brant Beacon ahead of last year’s event, Chris Tolhurst, a long-time volunteer and a member of the Villages’ Board of Directors, is designed to immerse visitors in a wide range of cultures.
“The festival usually consists of various cultural villages, and these venues are peppered throughout the city in churches, community and ethnic halls,” he said. “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.”
During this year’s event, attendees will have the chance to visit 16 villages, including the: Chinese, East Coast Canada, Hungarian, India, Italian, Mardi Gras, Muslim, New York, Palestinian, Philippine, Polish Polonaise, Polish Warszawa, Scottish, Ukrainian, United Africa and the Great Indian villages.
Attendees can purchase a passport for $10 (children under 13 are free when accompanied by an adult), either in advance or on the day of, which will grant them access to all 16 villages scattered across the city, as well as free shuttle transportation with different pre-determined routes.
Visitors will receive a stamp upon arriving at each village. Those who collect four or more stamps will be eligible to enter a draw for one of three prize packs.
The first prize includes two weekend general admission passes to the Call Home Music Festival, a free one-night stay at the Home 2 Suites by Hilton Brantford, dinner for two at Rangoli Indian Restaurant and Bar, dinner for two at the Field House Restaurant, a Fashionable Green gift basket, a $50 gift certificate for Vintner’s Cellar Brantford, a $40 gift certificate for Dairee Delite and a $25 gift certificate for Sipnosis Cafe.
Prize two includes a six month family swim pass for Brantford’s Best Western Hotel, parking for the Norfolk County Fair, dinner for two at Rangoli Indian Restaurant and Bar, one flex pack tickets for the Brantford Red Sox, a Brantford Bulldogs prize bag, a $50 gift certificate for Vintner’s Cellar Brantford, a $30 gift certificate for Dairee Delite and a $25 gift certificate for Sipnosis Cafe.
Prize three includes two tickets to a show at the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts, two general admission passes for the Norfolk County Fair, dinner for two at Rangoli Indian Restaurant and Bar, one flex pack tickets for the Brantford Red Sox, a $50 gift certificate for Vintner’s Cellar Brantford, a $30 gift certificate for Dairee Delite and a $25 gift certificate for Sipnosis Cafe.
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.
