Historic Fort Willow Conservation Area comes to life this Saturday

UTOPIA, Ontario (September 27, 2023) – This Saturday, September 30, take a journey back in time at the Festival at Fort Willow.

Visitors can make candles, learn about the items traded between Indigenous Peoples and Europeans, experience first-hand how sailors worked on ships, watch settlers make food, see live woodcarving demonstrations, muster-up and march in the King’s army and listen to the cannons roar!

The festival is held at the Historic 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 strategically located as a supply depot during the War of 1812. Both Fort Willow and the Nine Mile Portage are provincial and national historic sites.

“The festival is an annual event where reenactors will be dressed in period clothing and will be demonstrating life as it was in the early 1800s,” said Kyra Howes, Director of Conservation Services at the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority. “New displays this year include a blacksmith and as well as a video series highlighting several aspects of Indigenous history at Fort Willow.”

The Historic 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.

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About NVCA: The Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority is a public agency dedicated to the preservation of a healthy environment through specialized programs to protect, conserve and enhance our water, wetlands, forests and lands.

Media contact: Maria Leung, Senior Communications Specialist, 705-424-1479 ext.254, mleung@nvca.on.ca