Four major festivals are coming to Hamilton this month. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock Images.
Volunteers, vendors, and performers are getting ready for four major festivals within the city of Hamilton this month: the Festival of Friends at Gage Park, the Dundas Cactus Festival on King Street West in Dundas, Boots in the Creek Country Music Fest in Downtown Stoney Creek, and the Winona Peach Festival at Winona Park.
First, Hamilton’s Festival of Friends, which has been held since 1976, will be coming to Gage Park this weekend from Friday, Aug. 2 to Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024.
The festival begins at 2 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, ending at 11 p.m. on all three nights with the park closing at midnight.
Admission is free and on-site parking is available for $10, although there is free street parking in the area and Hamilton’s HSR bus service regularly serves the park.
Major performers include The Village People, War, Crash Test Dummies, The Washboard Union, Aaron Goodvin, and David Wilcox.
Those performances will be on the Gage Park Bandshell Stage.
There is also a smaller children’s stage located near the Gage Park fountain at the north end of the park where children’s performers will be singing between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day.
Other children’s activities include a midway, pony rides, bouncy castles, face painting and more.
For adults, a beer garden is located to the right of the bandshell.
Vendors and food trucks will also be at the event.
Next, the Dundas Cactus Festival is taking place Friday, Aug. 16 to Sunday, Aug. 18 on the streets of Dundas.
The festival is held on Dundas’ Highway #8 King Street West between Market Street and York Road and will have four stages.
Entertainment includes 22K Magic – A Tribute to Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars, Jack de Keyzer, Wednesday’s Engine, Freedom Train, and The George Arnone Big Band.
The Fortino’s Family Fun Zone on site features reptile shows all weekend, inflatables, face painting, pony rides, action heroes, and the Fortino’s Teddy Bear Picnic.
Local businesses will also take to the streets in a vendor marketplace and street sale.
There is also a Festival Patio, Hamilton Pro Wrestling bouts on all three days, five-minute escape room trailers, live t-shirt printing, vintage fire trucks, and a classic car show.
The same weekend is the second annual Boots in the Creek Country Music Festival in Downtown Stoney Creek from Friday, Aug. 16 to Saturday, Aug. 17.
Music starts Friday at 6 p.m. and the Saturday schedule starts at 12:30 p.m.
The festival website says that the festival headliner is still “to be announced,” but the line-up so far includes The Holy Gamblers, Carson Janik, Tomi Swick, Bree Taylor, Nicole Rayy, Mississippi Bends, Andy Colonico, Hayley Verrall, Jess & Tay, Christina Hutt, Alexa Goldie, Benny Douglass, Matt Morson, Paige Rutledge, Danny Smart, The Wild High, Brad James, Kristin Nicholls Band, Jessica Sevier, Brian John Harwood, The Gold Tone Collective, Matthew Runaway, and Angelica Appleman.
The festival also has vendors as well as food and drink options.
Finally, at the end of August is the Winona Peach Festival which will be held Friday, Aug. 23 to Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024.
A free HSR festival shuttle (with a food donation encouraged) is available at Eastgate Square and runs directly to Winona Park.
As always, there are arts and crafts, a large vendor area, a community area, entertainment, food court, and midway.
Performances will be made by Blake Halladay, Vilivant, Leash, Isabella Chiarini, Los Chukos, and Mystic Highway (a CCR tribute band).
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
