Imagine in the Park Festival

Imagine in the Park Festival Free arts workshops all day for children ages 4 -12 on the first weekend in June at Gage Park, Hamilton. It is held each year on the first Saturday in June.

July 2011 was the inaugural year for Imagine in the Park, the free children’s arts and literature festival. Gage Park Hamilton was chosen as the venue where it has been held annually since then because of its accessibility. Festival partners in 2011 included the Hamilton Children’s Museum, Frontier College who provided free books for all children attending as well as the Hamilton Literary Council

who with the Children’s Museum were responsible for volunteers. Arts Hamilton was our charitable partner and provided invaluable assistance in many ways. Partners changed as the festival grew over the five years with the Hamilton Academy of Performing Arts remaining our charitable partner since 2012. It is an excellent partnership as the festival complements the vision and goals of the arts curriculum of the school. The Children’s Museum remained an active partner until 2015 and will continue to participate in the event by providing a Kid’s Zone throughout the day. Alliances were forged with many loyal sponsors and donors the initial year, a number of whom have remained with us since then. As well, Frontier College has continued to provide free books for the hundreds of children who have attended the event over the past five years. The Hamilton District School Board has supported the festival (and continues to do so) by encouraging the distribution of announcement postcards to students who bring the cards to the festival in exchange for free books. A large number of individuals volunteer at the event each year including high school students who assist the artists and receive credit towards the community hours they must accrue in order to graduate.

A Super Big Thank You to everyone who came out to our very windy 15th annual Imagine In The Park festival! From our long...
06/16/2026

A Super Big Thank You to everyone who came out to our very windy 15th annual Imagine In The Park festival! From our long-time partners who help us financially to new friends we made this year, we're deeply grateful for another successful festival, where we could bring the wonder of art to many young lives!

Without our artists & authors, we wouldn't have this festival, so thank you so much for coming out for the day, and sharing your passions with the tiny humans and their families! We hope that you all discovered a new love of the arts and continue to grow in your creativity!

See you next year for our Sweet Sixteen!! Mark your calendars for June 4 & 5, 2027 at Gage Park! Rain, Shine... or wind!

Performance & Author lineup for today! *Weather permitting: Performances on the Bandshell, Author readings & activities...
06/06/2026

Performance & Author lineup for today!

*Weather permitting: Performances on the Bandshell, Author readings & activities in the Storytelling Tent.

If there is rain, performances may move to the Storytelling Tent. If that happens, Telling Tales author readings & activities will be in the Telling Tales Tent (middle of festival), 12:00-3:45 author slots will be canceled; however, you can find them in their tents hosting their regular scheduled activities! Storyay will be located in the Artist Market

We can't wait to see everybody tonight and tomorrow! Just a reminder, we are a rain-or-shine event! If there are more da...
06/05/2026

We can't wait to see everybody tonight and tomorrow!

Just a reminder, we are a rain-or-shine event!

If there are more dangerous conditions (severe thunder/lightening), our programming will be paused. There may be changes to our performances on the Bandshell due to rain (some performances may be moved to the Storytelling Tent, therefore canceling the author presentations; however, you will still find Telling Tales and their authors in their tent if that happens).

We appreciate everyone's consideration and patience throughout our festival, as we may make changes on the fly! We want to ensure everyone is safe :)

Our friends at Telling Tales and The Hamilton Public Library will be joining us once again!! Our friends at Telling Tale...
06/04/2026

Our friends at Telling Tales and The Hamilton Public Library will be joining us once again!!

Our friends at Telling Tales are bringing THREE authors to our festival on Saturday!
In our Storytelling Tent; you'll find Laura Bontje reading from Marion's Big Day bright and early at 10:30 am, followed immediately by Morgan Christie reading from Grandma, Cho Cho and Me at 11:15 am. At 12:30, you can experience Jess Hannigan's A Cow In The Dark At Night in the Telling Tales Tent ( #22) located in the middle row near the Storytelling Tent.

The Hamilton Public Library will have the Bookmobile on site at the festival and will host a variety of activities throughout the day! They are located to the right of the Bandshell, cozy within the trees near Tent 1 (Orange Star).

Plan out your day with us on Saturday by checking out our lineup of Artists, Authors and Performances! We've made just a...
06/02/2026

Plan out your day with us on Saturday by checking out our lineup of Artists, Authors and Performances! We've made just a few tweaks to the map of our festival if you've hung out with us before! If it's your first time, we're snuggled up to the Bandshell at Gage Park across from the Greenhouse :) 1000 Main St E, Hamilton. Our event is Rain or Shine

See the line up at our link in bio or www.imagineinthepark.com/artists

Tents 1-22 (TT) Workshops!
Blue Star "C" - Community Tent, accompanied by the Resource Fair and Artist Market
Purple Star "ST" - Storytelling Tent
Yellow "KZ" is the Kids Zone recommended for children under 4.
Orange Star- Hamilton Public Library and Bookmobile.

Ready to get a little messy?! Your children can get in tune with their creative side while painting! Tent 4: Fortunée Sh...
06/02/2026

Ready to get a little messy?! Your children can get in tune with their creative side while painting!

Tent 4: Fortunée Shugar "Bee Kind" Painting
This is a fun spring art project highlighting one of our most important pollinators- bees. The children will paint a golden beehive, cut it out then glue it onto a piece of black paper. Very effective representation of a bee’s habitat. Then they will draw and colour at least one, or maybe several bees. Those too will be cut out and glued underneath the beehive. Underneath their artwork we will write “Bee Kind”, as a gentle reminder to be kind.

Tent 8: Kate Dunn "What Is A Friend?" Painting
Participants will contribute to a large community mixed- media mural by creating their own panel illustrating what it means to be a good friend to others.

Tent 2: Israa Ahmed "Mini Acrylic Painting"
In this fun and creative mini acrylic painting workshop, children will explore colours, shapes, and imagination. They will also learn simple painting techniques such as color mixing, brush control, and layering while creating their own artwork on canvas.
(Limited to 15-20 children per workshop).

Find out more & very the full list at the link in our bio or www.imagineinthepark.com/artists

We're getting so pumped up this week because we get to celebrate Imagine In The Park with you! Don't forget to close out...
06/01/2026

We're getting so pumped up this week because we get to celebrate Imagine In The Park with you! Don't forget to close out your PA Day with us and the musical talents of Pete & Anna Music, Learning With Lexi and Noise Pollution School of Rock! We'll have a food truck for dinner and some desserts as well!

One week left y'all! Are you planning to join us on Friday only, Saturday only or both days? Let us know in the comments...
05/29/2026

One week left y'all!
Are you planning to join us on Friday only, Saturday only or both days? Let us know in the comments!

Don't forget that we have 1 free book per child available both days*! Thanks to our In-Kind Sponsors: Scholastics Canada and The Children's Book Bank Toronto!

It wouldn't be Imagine In The Park without some dedicated drawing workshops! Express yourself with Aleah Henry Art and G...
05/27/2026

It wouldn't be Imagine In The Park without some dedicated drawing workshops! Express yourself with Aleah Henry Art and Good Fairy Art!

Tent 14- Good Fairy Art: "Life of Insects" instructed drawing session!
Tent 21 - Aleah Henry Art: Thank You Cards. Draw your own thank you cards!

Learn about all of our workshops at www.imagineinthepark.com/artists

Let's get ARTSY! We have SO MANY great workshops where your children can learn about various art forms! Here are some of...
05/26/2026

Let's get ARTSY! We have SO MANY great workshops where your children can learn about various art forms! Here are some of our mixed media tents featuring a bit of paint, tissue paper, craft paper, and so much more!

Tent 1 - The Creative Parents: Collaborate on our MASSIVE Imagine signage

Tent 5- Deepa Krishnan: Learn about the calming practise of Paper Quilling!

Tent 6 - Jessica Rose: Create eco-friendly jewellery

Tent 9: Paper Craft Kits: Create little creatures out of paper pieces or create something from your own imagination.

Tent 10: All Out Creative: Create magical wands from things found in Nature

Tent 11: Vassi Rombis: Listen to a piece of her story Vlad A Vampires Secret, and create a frame showcasing what your special power is!

Tent 12: Nancy Lalicon: Cast your own hanging flower decoration!

Tent 14: Good Fairy Art: Draw a "Life of Insects" picture!

Tent 15: Mia Buono: Create some art on film strips, and watch the magic unfold!

Tent 19: Learning With Lexi: Go wild with your imagination, and learn to love what makes you, you! You'll be creating self-love suncatchers!

See all our workshops and performers at www.imagineinthepark.com/artists

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Gage Park
Hamilton, ON

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