Latest news with #ExploreWaterlooRegion
Hamilton Spectator
26-06-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
New guide highlights food and agricultural stops in the region
A new guide is looking to show off the many aspects of agriculture and food-related experiences around Waterloo Region. Explore Waterloo Region has launched The Fields & Flavour guide, which is an interactive map of 18 food and agricultural points of interest. It's much more than your typical food map, said Ashley Lansink of Explore Waterloo Region. 'The concept of a food map or an agritourism trail isn't new. We're not inventing that. But what makes the fields and flavours trail a little different is that it's focused specifically on experiences,' said Lansink. 'We currently have 18 stops on the map, but I expect that will grow in the future. When people go to the interactive map, they can rest assured that all of those stops are those really great, authentic experiences.' The guide, which was a year in the making, began with Explore Waterloo Region working with the Culinary Tours Alliance and running an audit of agritourism destinations in the region. The audit helped ensure that all of the stops on the trails were authentic experiences and met the criteria they were looking for. 'We narrowed down the list to those top visitor attraction destinations, and from there, we reached out to all of those destinations to gauge interest, and we landed on 18 so far that have matched the criteria, showed interest in joining the fields and flavours trail.' One of the 18 stops on the guide is Herrle's Country Farm Market located in St. Agatha. Established in 1964, Herrle's grows and sells their own rhubarb, peas, beans, squash, and pumpkins, and their farm market overflows with even more fresh Ontario produce. However, an experience that brings people back year after year is the pick-your-own (PYO) experience in the strawberry patch. They recently opened the experience for the season on June 20, but the fields were already filled with people, including families with their first-time strawberry pickers. 'There's anything from picking your own berries or apples. There are a lot of pick-your-own experiences. There are fall harvest festivals, there are animal interactions at a winery cidery, and there is goat yoga. There are tonnes of different options for rural experiences.' There are stops all over the region, including in Woolwich, with Kitchen Kuttings Café, St. Jacobs Farmers' Market, Snyder Heritage Farms, Shuh Orchards, Good Family Pumpkins, and Eby Manor Ltd all being in the township. Lansink went on to say that many people will soon realize there are so many experiences to be had on the trail. 'It's really meant to bring people not just to one location on the map, but for people to go on a bit of a journey. 'Waterloo Region is quickly becoming one of the top agritourism destinations in Ontario, and we wanted to establish a program that would capture that in a way that is easily digestible for our visitors.' With many residents both in Waterloo region and from around Ontario, the main goal of this trail is to make it easier to experience all that the region's agritourism has to offer. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
11-04-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Ontario Summer Games coming to Waterloo region in 2026
Young athletes from across the province will descend on Waterloo region in the summer of 2026 to compete in the Ontario Summer Games. The announcement was made Thursday morning in Waterloo by Ontario's Minister of Sport Neil Lumsden. "Our government is proud to support Waterloo region's bid to host the 2026 Ontario Summer Games, and provide Ontario's athletes with the opportunity to compete with their peers from across the province," said Minister Lumsden. "These games will attract thousands of visitors, driving domestic tourism to the region, boosting the economy and showcasing the fantastic attractions found throughout the area." The government has announced $1.6 million in funding for the games. That money will be used for upgrading and improving the infrastructure of some venues in the region which local organizers plan to mark as a legacy of the games. According to government estimates this sporting event will generate an estimated $6 million in domestic tourism revenue for the Region of Waterloo. Event planning starts now Allister Scorgie is the director of sport hosting at Explore Waterloo Region, and now chair of the organizing committee of the games. He says the preparation for the event starts now. "The most urgent thing that we need to do is bring people and experts in the various fields on board. So bringing in people to do medical and security and transportation management, volunteers, that's the most urgent thing," said Scorgie. "And then this summer we'll start to meet with all the sports." Scorgie says the province's ministry of sport will work with all the provincial sports bodies to decide which teams will take part. But before the sports are decided, Scorgie hopes people in the community will sign up to be a volunteer for the event. "We're going to need a ton of volunteers," said Scorgie. "So anyone that's interested in being involved in the games, if that's with a certain sport, if it's with athlete housing, if you're an athletic therapist and you want to help out with medical, where we're going to need so many hands and so many bodies to help manage such a big event." People interested in volunteering can sign up at the Explore Waterloo Region website on the sport hosting page. The 2026 Ontario Summer Games will be held in Waterloo region from July 30 to Aug. 2. Up to 4,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 18 along with their coaches, managers, families and other sporting officials will travel to the area. The games are held every two years and the Waterloo region version will have 24 sports, including baseball, lacrosse, soccer and rugby.
