Historic Fort Willow Conservation Area comes to life on October 4 – 5, 2024

UTOPIA, Ontario (September 17, 2024) – This October 4 – 5, take a journey back in time at the Festival at Fort Willow!

Visitors can make candles, watch a blacksmith work metal, witness a military firing line, chat with Voyageurs, , experience first-hand how sailors worked on ships, muster-up and march in the King’s army, and more!

The festival is held at the Fort Willow Conservation Area, which was used for centuries by Indigenous Peoples, during the Fur Trade, and by French explorers as part of a major transportation route known as the Nine Mile Portage. It was also a strategically located supply depot during the War of 1812. Both Fort Willow and the Nine Mile Portage are provincial and national historic sites.

“At Festival at Fort Willow, reenactors will be dressed in period clothing and will demonstrate life as it was in the early 1800s in our area,” said Kyra Howes, Director of Conservation Services at the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority. “This is a great opportunity for people to not only learn about what our area was like 200 years ago, but to really experience it as well.”

The Fort Willow Conservation Area is located at 2714 Grenfel Road, Utopia ON L0M 1T2. Festival at Fort Willow runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets for the event are $10 per person or $35 for a family of 4. Children under 2 years of age are free. Tickets can be purchased at fortwillow.nvca.on.ca.