Kitchener's Festival of Neighbourhoods

It offers tools and resources to help getting to know or bring your neighbors together across diversity. Festival of Neighbourhood activities have included street parties, festivals, outdoor cinema, campfire, barbecues, community gardens, cleanups, park building days, tree plantings, fun fairs, nature walks, and the list goes on. Whatever local citizens can think to do which improves the physical

environment of their neighbourhood as well as the social cohesion within their neighbourhood is eligible. In 2005 a Youth Grand Trunk was developed to be used by youth taking leadership for activities in their neighbourhoods which is proving to be a hit with the youth leaders and the children who participate in activities organized using the Grand Trunk. A feature of the Trunk is a giant twister game which itself is an excellent tool to bring neighbours closer together. Neighbourhoods are invited to register their events and activities that occur any time from October 1 to September 30 the following year. The season culminates in a Festival Finale on the fourth Sunday of October at Kitchener City Hall, in which all the different neighbours gather to celebrate their successes with the larger community. The Festival of Neighbourhoods works with a number of community partners in order to recognize various types of neighbourhood participation and success. We present various awards at the annual Festival Finale, and we distribute Good Neighbour Hampers to every participating neighbourhood. One of the most anticipated awards is the annual $10,000 Capital Improvement Grant from the City of Kitchener, which is given to one participating neighbourhood selected through a random draw and put towards a neighbourhood project. To date there have been 17 of such projects either implemented or in the planning stage:
1994 Mt. Hope-Breithaupt Park Neighbourhood: Duke St Playground re-design and upgrades.
1995 Courtland Shelley Neighbourhood: Vanier Park bridge, playground upgrades and planting.
1996 Cedar Hills Neighbourhood: Residential Façade Improvement Loan Fund.
1997 College St Neighbourhood: safety audit and streetscape improvements.
1998 Kilkerran Crescent Neighbourhood: accessible nature trail in neighbourhood woodlot.
1999 Doon Pioneer Community Association: Skatium mobile skateboard park.
2000 Brubacher St: park upgrades.
2001 Asgard Green/Cherry St: green space improvements and accessible walking trail.
2002 Huron Park Community Garden: improvements to Huron Park (Weber and Louisa Sts).
2003 Country Hills: accessible playground and park upgrades.
2004 Breithaupt Park Neighbourhood: upgrade to park area with soccer field, winter rink, storage shed and outdoor performance area with hydro, also expected is new LCD projector for Movie Night.
2005 Chandler-Mowat Neighbourhood: spray pad
2006 Margaret / Guelph / Weber / Erb (Hartwood Green): park landscaping
2007 Auditorium Neighbourhhood Association: in consultation
2008 Chandler-Mowat Neighbourhood: in consultation
2009 Topper Woods/Doon: in consultation
2010 Robert Ferrie Dr. –Southridge St.-Monarch Woods Dr.: in consultation