More than 1,400 Grade 4 students from the City of Brantford, County of Brant and Six Nations of the Grand River descended upon Mohawk Park for the 18th annual Brantford-Brant Children’s Water Festival, which ran from Tuesday, May 12 through Thursday, May 14, 2026.
Established in 2006, the event is put on every year by the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) in partnership with the City of Brantford and the County of Brant.
Louise Heyming, Conservation Outreach Supervisor at the GRCA, said the event gives children the chance to learn about water science, protection, technology, attitudes and conservation, in a fun, interactive way.
“The Children’s Water Festival is really an opportunity for these students to get out of the classroom, come to Mohawk Park for the day and to learn all about water,” she said. “We have about 450 students here each day, and while they’re here, they get to explore 35 different activity stations, each of which has a different water-related message.”
With around 30 schools in attendance over the course of the three days, the event is designed to help the youngsters initiate environmental change within their homes, schools, and communities.
“Kids are our future and so we want them to consider where water comes from when they turn the tap on. We want them to appreciate everything that goes into having clean water available to them and to understand that not everywhere in the world has that,” said Heyming. “Some of our activities are more focused on conservation, so we have one about taking shorter showers and turning the tap off while you brush your teeth. We also have ones that are more environment-related where they’re learning and talking about not littering and keeping natural areas clean. There’s even one where the students talk about different species of fish and how they indicate the quality of the water.”
“The whole thing is really designed to get them thinking about our water resources and what they can do in their homes and at school to protect them, and to not take water for granted,” she continued. “It’s great because each of the messages are delivered through an interactive game, so they’re not just standing and listening. There’s a real hands-on component, and the students are learning without even realizing it.”
During the event, high school students from three local schools ran a majority of the festival’s stations, giving them a chance to step into a leadership role and improve their presentation skills.
“We couldn’t do this without the support of our high schools,” said Heyming. “We have about 60 to 70 high school students that come and host our different activity centres, so it’s a great leadership opportunity for them as well. Yesterday we had students here from BCI, today we have some from Pauline Johnson, and tomorrow we’ll have students from St. John’s.”
With various partners involved such as the Brant Community Foundation, Brant Waterways Foundation, City of Brantford, County of Brant, Grand Erie Public Health, Grand River Conservation Foundation, Ontario Clean Water Agency, the catholic and public schools boards, and MRC Wireless, the program was provided at no cost to the students.
“We’re thrilled to have had the support of our long-standing partners,” said Heyming. “It’s because of them we’ve had over 20,000 students come through the festival since we started in 2006.”
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.
