Niagara-on-the-Lake will offer three days of peach-themed treats and all-ages fun from Friday to Sunday as two separate festivals take place.
The Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce will host its 2025 Peach Festival on Friday, Aug. 8, and Saturday, Aug. 9.
Events will begin in Simcoe Park on Friday and expand onto Queen Street on Saturday, where vendors will sell a variety of goods.
On Sunday, Aug. 10, St. Vincent de Paul Parish will host its own Peach Festival on its church grounds.
The highlight of the weekend is the wide range of peach-flavoured treats available at both events.
On Friday and Saturday, festivalgoers can expect peach beverages, pretzel bites with peach mustard sauce, chocolate peach bombs and peach pie hefeweizen, among others.
The Chamber of Commerce festival will also feature a peach pie contest. Bakers must submit their entries by 11 a.m. Saturday, when they will be judged by “local celebrity judges,” including Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa, in front of the Court House.
“I think last year we had about 10 different pies,” said Emelyn Williams, manager of events at the NOTL Chamber of Commerce. “So hopefully we have around the same number of pies this year.”
St. Vincent de Paul’s festival will also be filled with peach products for sale.
“We’re selling everything peach,” said Sharyn Choules, co-chair of the parish festival with her husband, Terry.
Offerings include peach pie, peach sundaes, peach crepes and peach lemonade. Proceeds from sales will support the parish.
The Chamber of Commerce event will also feature live music, a kids’ zone, an antique tractor display and a virtual reality experience.
The parish festival will include live music, a barbecue and games such as Jenga, cornhole and a ladder toss game.
Williams said the Chamber is working with the Farmworker Hub for the first time this year to reflect the seasonal importance of peaches and the work of local agricultural workers.
Choules says the parish has hosted the festival for 36 years. It began as an event for churchgoers and expanded into a three-day celebration in partnership with the town and the Chamber of Commerce.
“St. Vincent de Paul was definitely the owner of the peach festival, the creator of the peach festival, and they’re still going on to this day,” said Williams.
“We do collaborate and share resources with them, so I feel like it’s a pretty good partnership.”
Last year, Williams said their festival drew an estimated 15,000 attendees last year, while the Chouleses said the church estimated they had 2,000 people. The Chouleses said their event relies on the help of 100 volunteers from the parish.
Both events continue to be driven by strong community support.
“People come back year after year to the festival partly because of the peaches,” said Williams.
“We definitely have this festival to honour the fruit and to honour the agricultural sector.”
The Chamber of Commerce Peach Festival runs from noon to 9 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
The St. Vincent de Paul Parish Festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The Chamber recommends parking at Fort George and taking the free two-minute shuttle to the old Court House, located at the centre of the festival.
Both events are free to attend.
