The hallmark event of Grand River Raceway’s racing season is Industry Day, always held on the Civic Holiday Monday. The event is highlighted by two prestigious races, The Battle of Waterloo is Grand River Raceway’s signature race, featuring Ontario-sired two-year-old pacing colts. The Battle of the Belles is a companion race contested by Ontario-sired two-year-old pacing fillies. Make a day of it. The action is thrilling.
We don’t do boring. This is a place where there is always something to do, something to see, somewhere to go. Where do you want to start? Pick your season. We’ll give you a reason to come explore Elora and Fergus. And hopefully, we will inspire your return trip too.
We’ve assembled a few of our favourite seasonal events, the annual fun we never miss. But we love to be spontaneous too. You just never know what impromptu event will come up, but we know you’ll want to be there, so for current event listings, dates and locations, visit our Events page.
When the thaw of winter gives rise to daffodils and the hearty crocus, the waters of the Grand River rush with the melt of snow and the earth comes alive again. Fergus and Elora are beautiful places to shake off the winter and step into spring.
The trees and flowers bloom, making our trails a beautiful place to see the birds, get outdoors and get some exercise. And soon, the sun will warm the waters of Belwood Lake and the Grand River. The fish will be biting, which will make those who fish our waters very happy. Ah, Spring. You’re beautiful here.
Ah summer, the perfect time to visit Elora and Fergus. You can bask beneath the summer sun by the emerald waters of the Elora Quarry or stretch out on the sandy shores at the Belwood Lake spring-fed quarry. Bump through the white waters of the Grand River or fly fish in the cool streams.
You can rent a bike, go for a hike along the Elora Cataract Trail, or paddle a canoe or take your sweetheart for a gondola ride along the Grand River. Picnic among the sunflowers of the Fieldstone Barn or the in the greenspace of the Elora Centre for the Arts. Summers here are full of possibilities.
We are home to three of the best music and cultural festivals you’re ever going to find in one area, all in the month of August. Come for one or stay for all.
If you enjoy choral and classical music, we’ve got that. The Elora Festival brings the world to our small stages.
Riverfest Elora rocks out Bissell Park for three days and nights of incredible live music, with a line-up of bands you won’t believe, drawing in thousands of music lovers to party riverside.
And for an entire weekend, people from around the world descend on Fergus to celebrate all things Scotland. Whether you can claim Scottish heritage or just want to claim it for the weekend, get to the Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games.
You simply can’t beat that our festivals. Seriously, you can’t.
Yes, it’s the perfect time to visit us. The patios are open. The water is cold. The happenings are hot. You won’t even believe all the ice cream we have here. Best of all, shopping is always in season.
Fall in love with autumn here. Our landscape is a spectacle of crimson reds, bright yellows, oranges and deep greens made all the more spectacular along our trails, riverbanks and the caverns of the Elora Gorge.
As we celebrate the harvest season, it’s also a time of hometown traditions and community celebrations. We’re happy to share the bounty of the season. We also highly recommend you get the kid’s out of the city to learn about their rural roots at our charming Fergus Fall Fair.
Make a weekend of it. Gather your friends and map out your inspiration with the Elora Fergus Studio Tour. Explore private workshops and studios and meet the makers of the fine art that has made Elora and Fergus a hub of diverse creativity and inspiration. Autumn is awesome here.
When the snow falls and ice forms long sharp teeth against the limestone rocks that envelope the Grand River, the view is spectacular. The Elora Gorge is an icicle fortress, where ice climbers gear up for a climb to the top, and the trails are set for cross-country skiing and snow shoeing.
The view of the Grand River through Fergus is picturesque, as the water rushes through leaving a frozen mist on the trees. When the ice is thick, Belwood Lake offers ice fishing, and snowmobiles tour special trails to get out into the countryside. It’s cold out there, but it’s warm inside our pubs, restaurants, specialty coffee shops.
‘Tis the season to be merry and we can help with that too. Christmas shopping will become a special tradition. Begin your holiday memories here.
As you can see, we pack a lot in here, because life is Grand and Gorgeous all year round. There’s more. Much more. But you know, we didn’t want to overwhelm you. We suggest you check our calendar of events for new and upcoming events, locations and details.
Our landscape is changing as we grow to become a premiere destination, but that just means you’ll find new things to explore when you return. So plan to come back. Often.
We miss you already.
Forget amusement parks, our thrill rides are the real deal and Mother Nature is in control. You’ll never get a better view of the Elora Gorge than from the waters of the Grand River, and you’ll never have more fun than doing so than on a big, bouncy inflatable inter-tube.
Choose your own adventure to suit your thrill tolerance. From the rush of water rapids in the echo of the Elora Gorge, to a more relaxed go-with-the-flow of a journey on the Grand River between Fergus and Elora, you’ve got options. And if you’ve got time, why not do both?
Tubing is fast, fun and unforgettable. Prepare to make a big splash and scream a little, (or a lot) on a self-guided journey that moves fast over rapids and slows down in the smooth warm pools between the limestone cliffs inside the Elora Gorge Conservation Park. There is no view like it.
Start your journey by renting your equipment at the launch point inside the Elora Gorge Conservation Area and launch yourself into the river rapids for a twisting, turning journey. You wanted adventure? You’ve found it. Book online at www.grandriver.ca
Elora Rapids gives you two options to experience the Grand River. Book your inflatable tubes and gear online and then select the route best suited for you. If you’re up for the rush of river inside the Elora Gorge Conservation Area, you can rent your equipment from them and venture into the park’s tube launch site.
But if you want to a more relaxed river experience, with less bounce and more go-with-flow, tubing is equally as fun. Elora Rapids will send you down river, but first they’ll drop you off upstream. Their shuttle bus drop-off service will take you to launch point in downtown Fergus, where you and your friends will board your tubes and meander along the expanse of the Grand River in casual comfort, enjoying the views of the homes, greenspaces and surely some wildlife along the shorelines all the way to the Elora. You’ll get a rivers edge view of Fergus and Elora; a unique perspective for two distinctive towns.
Maybe you’d prefer to ride the rapids on a River Bug. Not an actual bug, of course. That would be silly. We mean a River Bug, from the Elora Raft Rides. River Bugs are a one-person catamaran raft that puts you in the driver’s seat right on top of the water for a journey of fun you won’t forget. Take the trip down the Grand River from Confederation Park in Fergus to Bissell Park in Elora to enjoy an experience that is better than smooth sailing and is sure to be a blast.
Admit it, you really want to tell your friends you’ve been on a River Bug. Yeah, you do. www.eloraraftrides.com
Paddlers know the pleasure that comes from exploring the beauty of the Grand River from the smooth glide of a canoe so close to the water that your sensory becomes one with nature. The rest of the world seems to fall away with the motion of the paddle stroke dipping into the shining water and the shared experience of maneuvering a canoe with your fellow adventurer. It’s a very Canadian thing to do.
Don’t know how? No worries. There’s no experience necessary. The experienced team at Elora Paddle Company will suit you up and give you easy instructions to set your course on this gentle stretch of river. The 45-minute rental gives you a self-guided tour from the dock ideally located in the heart of Elora. From here you can set a course eastward to beautiful Bissell Park, where you can paddle up to be waterfall and tour past the natural beauty of rocks and find treasure in the fossils on the shoreline, or paddle west out to the centre of town get a view of the historic town from the water.
The Elora Paddle Company has created an authentic family-friendly Elora experience for those who know there is nothing like getting out on the water. Book your canoe online and get ready for fun. www.elorapaddlecompany.ca.
Sit back and let someone else navigate the waters, learn about local history, see the natural beauty of the area and tour the town from the waters of the Grand River with Elora Raft Rides. Their unique, locally-fabricated watercraft will take you and yours on a pleasure cruise in the comfort of their Classic Punts. They have so many cruising options we don’t have room to explain all the cool things you can do with Elora Raft Rides, so visit them at www.eloraraftrides.com and create a memorable experience all your own.
We’ve waited all year for this party. ALL YEAR. And we’re okay with it because, we already know that Riverfest Elora 2018 is totally worth the wait.
How can we be so sure? Experience. We haven’t missed a Riverfest yet, which means we have TEN years of adoring the little backyard festival that grew into an epic summer music festival and yet, has never lost its charm. True fact.
You have likely been to many concerts in many venues and taken part in music festivals in all kinds of venues from sports stadiums, outdoor arenas and maybe a few big parties held in cow pastures. Yep, us too. Good times, but no charm there.
But when you plan a giant party in Elora’s Bissell Park, with the beautiful Grand River running alongside it, complete with three stages, food trucks and vendors galore, an Artisan Alley, beer and spirits, art exhibits and beautiful greenspace all around, in the heart of one of the prettiest villages in Ontario, honestly, you cannot beat that. You just can’t. Because, when you imagine the ultimate music festival with the audience experience in mind – you grow it organically. And well, you can’t go wrong. So come and get charmed.
Because the Riverfest Elora organizers turns this ….
Into this ….
Oh – and there’s like a whole bunch of awesome bands playing too. You knew that right? There’s about 60 bands. And after parties.
Check out the 10th anniversary Riverfest Elora line-up!
(Photos: Dear Rouge and Blue Rodeo will return to Riverfest Elora to help celebrate the big anniversary!)
So trust us when we say, you’ve never experienced anything like Riverfest Elora. When we say EPIC, we mean it! Pack in as much as you can. Enjoy Elora. Visit Fergus. Charm on every corner. You’ll be a Riverfriend in no time! Rock on, people. Rock on.
Throw on the hip-waders and tie one on. Fly Fishing Canada will host the 16th Annual National Championship in Fergus and Elora, (Centre Wellington) from June 3-8, 2018.
Test your skills and sportsmanship in search of Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout and Brook Trout.
Watercourses include the beautiful Grand River, Conestoga River and the Upper Credit Trout Club. This is the second time that the Nationals have been held on the Grand and Conestoga Rivers. One cast and you’ll know whyThe Grand and Conestoga rivers are tailwater fisheries, stocked annually each Spring with up to 40,000 Brown Trout, many of which hold over from year to year, producing some of North America’s best trophy brown trout approaching the 30-inch size.
The Upper Credit Trout Club has operated as a private members’ club for over 40 years. It features a pond large enough to provide beats for rotational bank-fishing, is stocked with trophy Rainbow Trout and Brook Trout.
We’ll be welcoming competitive anglers from across Canada to compete in the waters that flow through our community, surrounded by beautiful views like limestone cliffs and rocky shore lines, waterfalls and the prettiest towns too.
Schedule:
Opening Ceremonies: Sunday June 3, 6pm-9pm
Official Practice Days: Sunday June 3, Monday June 4
No-fishing Day: Tuesday June 5. Captain’s meeting, Conservation Symposium
Competition Dates: Wed June 6 through Friday June 8: 6-session format (one spare session per angler)
Closing Ceremonies: Friday June 8, 6pm-10pm
Check-out and Depart: Saturday June 9
Local Charity Beneficiary of proceeds from silent- and live-auctions, raffles, etc.:
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Centre Wellington (BBBS-CW) https://centrewellington.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/
“Fish on!!” That’s what you want most to hear when you’re in the Belwood Lions Pike Derby, because the prizes and bragging rights are worth reeling it in. The longest pike takes the win, but it’s the longest fishing tales of the one that got away that keep this family tradition alive and swimming.
Every spring since 1980, on the weekend after the Victoria Day holiday, Belwood Lake is a busy spot with boat loads of anglers looking to cast out for the big win. First prize is $2000.00, but there is even more prizes in both adult and youth categories, including early bird draws, door prizes and draws. Be sure to bring the kids, because every angler under the age of 8 years old is guaranteed a prize.
Reel it in and take part in this annual competition, the biggest annual fundraiser for the Belwood Lions Club – supporting local initiatives for youth and community in the Township of Centre Wellington.
Whether you catch a pike or just make memories with your pals, this is great event with a proud history. So, fish on!
