The 26th Annual Festival of Neighbourhoods Celebration is taking place on November 17, 2019 from 1 pm to 3 pm at Kitchener City Hall Rotunda.

Festival of Neighbourhoods supports and encourages neighbours to reach out to each other, learn together and adapt as the dynamics of neighbourhoods change with the pace of life, generational shift, the use of technologies, and the ways in which we relate to the geographies in which we reside.
Come and explore the diversity of neighbourhoods, fill up your Neighbourhood Loot Bag with ideas that are fun, surprisingly simple, empowering and within your REACH! Discover the gatherings neighbours have been organizing to get to connect and foster community. Have the chance to meet others that share a common passion, interest or hobby. Talk with previous recipients of the CIty of Kitchener Neighbourhood Improvement Grants about what they did and how it has improved their neighbourhood..

We will discover together what neighbourhoods did to meet the “REACH! Inclusion Challenge” making their gatherings more accessible and welcoming. Five inclusive gatherings are being recognized thanks to the long-standing leadership and guidance of the Independent Living Centre of Waterloo Region.

City of Kitchener will be giving out two Neighbourhood Improvement Grants in a draw, $20,000 each. The Trudy Beaulne Award will be given to a neighbourhood striving to improve social conditions and presented by the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region.

Thirty-three neighbourhoods have registered a total of 69 inclusive neighbourhood gatherings hosted between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019. Over 8,000 people took part in activities organized by more than 350 neighbours. Join us as we celebrate this stronghold of neighbourly spirit in Kitchener.