Event Details

Sport Niagara is a not-for-profit organization established to carry on the legacy from the Niagara 2022 Canada Games. It supports the attraction and hosting of future sport events and promote community sport programs throughout Niagara Region. In 2022, Niagara hosted the largest and most successful Canada Games ever held, with a record attendance of 163,540. More than 5,000 athletes participated in the Games at sporting venues across the region. With the support of over 3,500 volunteers and the financial support of the business community - both locally and nationally – the Games have been recognized as the best organized, the most inclusive and financially successful Games held to date.

This application is for the “2024 World Rowing Championship & Fan Festival”, taking place April 25 to August 25, 2024 at various locations in St. Catharines. Sport Niagara and St. Catharines World Rowing (SCWR) are hosting of the 2024 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Under 19 Championships. Originally planned as solely a sporting event, the SCWR Organizing Committee reached out directly to Sport Niagara to develop, plan and execute a complimentary cultural plan to amplify and augment the engagement and revenue opportunities for the event. The Fan Festival site will be situated next to the 2024 World Rowing Championship site and free to access. Programming will include:

(1) Two pre-event concerts: (i) Barenaked Ladies, April 25 at the Meridian Centre, St. Catharines; and (ii) “Oars & Encore | An Evening with Steven Page” - July 26 at First Ontario Performing Arts Centre, St. Catharines;

(2) Fan Festival: The free-admission Fan Festival will be held from August 21 - 24, 2024 at Rennie Park, Port Dalhousie - St. Catharines, which also serves as the secondary championship spectator grandstand locations. The Main Stage programming presents a diverse variety of free entertainment daily, including: SOS (The Sound of Sting); The Trews; The Usual Suspects; Mimi O’Bonsawin; DJ Shub, and more (tbc);

(3) Niagara winemaker, spirit distillery, and craft breweries bars and booths; and

(4) Interactive activations including “History of Rowing”; “Row with the Champions” (virtual rowing experience); the vintage Lakeside Park Carousel; a 50ft ferris wheel.