St. Catharines tops Culture Days rankings

There’s no shortage of culture in St. Catharines, and the city has the hardware to prove it.

Just days after the City celebrated local creative talent with its annual Arts Awards, Culture Days Canada announced that St. Catharines has once again topped national ranking for participation. Culture Days is a nation-wide celebration of arts and culture, with hundreds of communities of all sizes hosting arts and culture events throughout the month of October. In 2021, a record audience estimated at 3.4 million people attended activities both in-person and online.  

This year Culture Days ran from Sept. 24 to Oct. 24, with 192 virtual and in-person events across the city, many supported by the St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program. That number places St. Catharines as the community with the most Culture Days events for the second year running, edging out much larger cities like Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver.

“This is a fantastic indicator of the successful work being done to drive a cultural renaissance in our community. It’s no secret that St. Catharines is rapidly becoming a cultural hot spot that punches well above its weight class, thanks to not only our efforts but also the many talented individuals who hosted cultural events and undertook creative initiatives in our community during Culture Days 2021,” said Cultural Services Supervisor Noora Rizvi.

This year’s Culture Days lineup included the launch of the City’s Art of Resilience Exhibit, in which Niagara-based artists shared their insights on how the community has come together, demonstrated resilience and adapted through a year of change and challenge brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Other Culture Days highlights included:

• Carousel Players’ Giant Puppet Party which challenged participants to create giant puppets at home (with the help of an instructional video) and then meet up in the park for their Giant Puppet Party;
• The St. Catharines Public Library’s series of in-person workshops exploring visual and performing arts;
• The Niagara Artists Centre series of exhibitions throughout the month; and
• Mexicanos in Niagara’s Day of the Dead celebration at Market Square.

For more information on Culture Days in St. Catharines, visit our Culture Days page.