Event Details

Bridges Niagara, formerly known as The Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre, is a charitable not-for-profit organization incorporated as the Folk Arts Council of St. Catharines in 1970, having the mandate to support and assist the ethno-cultural and newcomer community in Niagara through a broad range of programs and services.The Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre delivers many programs and events, including the Niagara Folk Arts Festival, Canada’s oldest continually running multicultural festival. Held each year during May, the Festival celebrates the blend of cultures that makes Canada a diverse nation. Their mission is to promote the preservation, development, and advancement of the cultural and artistic heritage of the people of Canada. The mostly free event offers multicultural food, drink, art, live performance, workshops and children’s activities.

This application is for the “2026 Water Lantern Festival”, a Pan-Asian cultural arts initiative taking place across the Niagara Region from July 10 to August 1, 2026. The project combines a series of regional pop-up outreach events with a signature evening Festival at Chippawa Park in Welland, designed to expand cultural participation and increase regional tourism while introducing new audiences to Pan-Asian arts and heritage and strengthening partnerships across community organizations, festivals, and cultural institutions. Programming includes: (1) “Meet the Artists: Ink & Movement”: a pop-up series of pre-festival activations presented at libraries, community festivals, and markets across Niagara and neighbouring regions, including Pelham SummerFest, Niagara Jazz Festival programming, the St. Catharines Holi event, the Sakura Festival in Burlington, and the Stoney Creek Strawberry Festival, featuring free artist meet-and-greets, demonstrations, and hands-on activities introducing audiences to Asian calligraphy, dance, and cultural traditions; (2) “Pan-Asian Cultural Performance Program”: live performances throughout the Water Lantern Festival evening featuring traditional and contemporary Chinese music, lion dancing by Northern Legs Southern Fists, Korean vocal and K-Pop dance presentations, Tai Chi demonstrations, Taekwondo performances, and new collaborations with cultural groups from across Ontario; (3) “Visual Arts and Interactive Cultural Experiences”: an expanded visual arts area presenting calligraphy, watercolor, paper arts, and graphic arts alongside demonstrations of traditional instruments such as the erhu and guzheng; (4) “Cultural Marketplace and Community Engagement”: a growing festival marketplace featuring cultural vendors, food and beverage offerings, and community information booths; and (5) “Water Lantern Ceremony”: The Great Launch at dusk, a signature moment of the festival where biodegradable lanterns are placed on the water in three ceremonial cycles accompanied by live music.