All city events
Find information on all events hosted by the city. Stay updated by following the city events team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or by subscribing to What's Happening Waterloo, our monthly newsletter.
On this page
- City Events in Spring/Summer 2023
- City Events in Fall 2023
- City Events in Winter 2024
- Year Round City Programming
- Past City Programming
- Information on how to plan your own event
Spring/Summer 2023
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Art Market (May-August) |
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Art Market features artists, crafters, and makers from Waterloo and surrounding area selling outside at the Waterloo Public Square. The market runs 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Additional Art Markets will be held at Open Streets (June 10) and the July 1st Community Picnic (July 1). The deadline to apply to be an vendor was March 20, 2023. |
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Campfire (May-August) |
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Bring a blanket or your favourite hoodie and head uptown! Gather around the campfire in Waterloo Public Square with friends and neighbours for local music, games and more. Second Wednesday of the month from May-August from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
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Community Campfires (May-August) |
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We're bringing Campfire outside of the Waterloo Public Square! Join us outside of Albert McCormick Community Centre (500 Parkside Dr, Waterloo) as we listen to local musicians around a campfire, play some giant games, and grab snacks from a local food truck.
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Movies In The Park (June-August) |
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Hosted in Waterloo Park near the Bandshell, bring a blanket and watch movies on the big outdoor screen! Movies begin at sundown.
Dates marked with an asterisk * are brought to you in partnership with Princess Cinemas and The Beat Goes On and in support of the Waterloo Region Food Bank. If possible, please consider bringing a non-perishable food item to donate on these dates. |
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Open Streets (June 10) |
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Open Streets returns to the streets in uptown Waterloo in 2023. Join us in June for a fun-filled day that will take over Willis Way. Watch live performances from KWBreakers, mural painting, browse through the art market, and join in on the fun and games. The event runs 12:00 P.M to 6:00 P.M. |
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National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21) |
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June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day. This day recognizes the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples, communities and nations. The City of Waterloo has been marking this occasion for the past six years by partnering with local Indigenous artists who creates and installs original art pieces on the surface of the Waterloo Public Square. These artworks serves as a visual reminder of the territory and land on which the city was founded. For 2023, Maddie Resmer, of Western Sky Designs, created the mural. Resmer made a video discussing the significance of this year’s mural design and their recognition of the day. |
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July 1 Community Picnic (July 1) |
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The City of Waterloo will be commemorating Canada Day on July 1, 2023 in Waterloo Park with a community picnic, artist showcase and food trucks. The event runs 4:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. |
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Day of Play (August 12) |
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Come have a Day of Play Saturday, August 12 in Waterloo Park!
Located along the Waterloo Park Promenade (near the animal pen area) from 11:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. there will be activities, games, adventures, and more. A day of non-stop fun for everyone! |
Fall 2023
| Movies In The Parking Lot |
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Waterloo's own pop-up drive in is back! This event has limited space and spots are on a first come first served basis. Attendees can arrive anytime after 7:30pm and movies will begin after the sun sets. Located at 510 Dutton Drive in Waterloo.
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| Lumen (September 23) |
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Winter 2024
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New Year's Eve (December 31) |
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Family-friendly celebration in Waterloo Public Square. Skating, music, crafts and hot cider! From 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Due to the weather, the rink in Waterloo Public Square is closed. This means our New Years Eve event has been cancelled. We hope you have a safe and happy new year and we can’t wait to see you all in 2023! |
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Skate Night Date Night (Wednesdays in January and February) |
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Skate along to the amazing tunes spun live by an onsite DJ at the uptown rink every Wednesday in January and February from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. |
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Winterloo (January 27) |
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Winterloo is an annual, free festival for all ages that hosts winter-themed activities in uptown Waterloo. More information will be available on the Winterloo website. |
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World Poetry Day (March 21) |
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The City of Waterloo invites artists to respond to an open call to participate in World Poetry Day. |
Year Round Programming
| Neighbourhood Picnic Tables |
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City of Waterloo invites the public to come enjoy these creative, unique, and vibrant picnic tables featured in the Neighbourhood Picnic Table Program. In 2021, in partnership with the City of Waterloo's Neighbourhoods team, Create Waterloo commissioned 18 local artists to create custom artwork on picnic tables located in one of six community gardens throughout Waterloo. In 2022, another 12 tables were added to the collection in four new neighbourhood parks. View each picnic table and its location on our online map.
Applications for 2023 artists are now open and close May 22, 2023 by 5:00 P.M. |
| Trail Mix - Local Trails & Local Artists |
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Trail Mix is an auditory accompaniment for Waterloo trails.
Are you an artist that wants to be featured on a Trail Mix? Sign up to be on the Artist Roster. |
| Uptown Tunes |
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Scan the QR code featured on the kiosk or the trailer in the Waterloo Public Square. The playlist features local artists and will be changed multiple times throughout the year. Now playing: Volume 2 (updated January 2022) Featured artists: Tanya Rivero, Gareth Bush, Kennen, The MacQueens |
| Waterloo Park Art Walk (updated March 2022) |
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The Waterloo Park Art Walk is an outdoor exhibit that stretches though Waterloo Park from Caroline Street to Seagram Drive. The Art Walk features the work of 24 local artists selected by a jury to be part of the program. Each of the 24 pieces makes reference to the nature, scenery, and/or landscape of the park. Participating 2022 artists: Alison Postma, Angela Grasse, Aoe Girard, Ashley Guenette, Cheryl-Ann Hills, Chris Winterson, Cindy Matthews, Dan Gee, Ekaterina Abasheva, Jackie Partridge, Jesse Matas, Jonathan Munz, Margarita Kuznetsova, Megan Skelton, Natali Baird, Nicholas Rees, Nicole Ensing, Poorvi Jain, Robin Crank, Roslyn Ramsay, Sara Nieto, Sherry Czekus, Tami Martin, and Tanner van Vliet |
Past Programming
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Lumen Lite |
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A physically distanced festival where light, art & tech meet two metres apart. |
| The Community Happiness Project |
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The Community Happiness Project connected community members by sharing messages of hope, positivity, welcoming, and connectivity from participants across Waterloo. Messages were submitted online or through our Kindness Phone Hotline and then placed on signs throughout the city with QR codes for people to listen to the messages.
The signs have now been taken down, but you can still listen to the messages and see the accompanying artwork for each sound. |
| World Poetry Day (March 21) |
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Five poems in five days. In honour of World Poetry Day (Monday March 21), the City of Waterloo invited artists to respond to an open call to participate in Create Waterloo's World Poetry Day social media project. This project features the work of local literary artists and their poems being promoted on the City of Waterloo’s Arts and Culture team’s social media pages, Create Waterloo, throughout the week of March 21. In addition to their poems, the selected artists also participated in an Artist Spotlight video where they had the opportunity to introduce themselves and discuss their work. See the social media posts on Create Waterloo's Instagram account.
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Planning Your Own Event?
For information on how to host your own event at a City facility such as the Waterloo Public Square or Waterloo Park, begin by reviewing the How To Plan an Event page and also the Event Planning Form.