Dundas Cactus Festival
Encyclopedia
The Dundas Cactus Festival occurs on the third weekend of August in Dundas
, Ontario
, Canada. The midway is opened on Wednesday and with King Street
blocked off from York Road to Market Street there is a parade
on Thursday evening.
Following that from Friday to Sunday there are live musicians, buskers
, arts & crafts
, games, vendors and even some charity gambling
.
The Dundas Cactus Festival is named after Barend (Ben) Veldhuis, a Dutch
immigrant who ran a large greenhouse specializing in cacti, who was the reason Dundas became known as "the cactus capital of the universe".
Dundas, Ontario
Dundas is a formerly independent town and now constituent community in the city of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. It's nickname is the Valley Town. The population has been stable for decades at about twenty thousand, largely because it has not annexed rural land from the protected Dundas Valley...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada. The midway is opened on Wednesday and with King Street
King Street (Dundas, Hamilton, Ontario)
King Street starts off as a collector road in the east-end of town in Dundas, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada beside Cootes Paradise and the Desjardins Canal at Olympic Drive and switches to an arterial road at York Street and cuts through the town of Dundas where it ends in the west-end by the CN...
blocked off from York Road to Market Street there is a parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
on Thursday evening.
Following that from Friday to Sunday there are live musicians, buskers
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
, arts & crafts
Arts & Crafts
Arts & Crafts may refer to:* Arts and Crafts Movement, an aesthetic movement* Arts and crafts, activities related to making things with one's own hands and skill* "Arts & Crafts", a song by Red Light Company...
, games, vendors and even some charity gambling
Charity gambling
Charity gambling is the practice where typical gambling 'games' such as bingo, roulette, lottery, slot machines, etc. are overseen by a charity or group of charities. The profits from the venture go to the charity or group of charities, rather than to a municipality or private casino. Sometimes...
.
History
The Dundas Cactus Festival began in 1976 as a festival to mark the beginning of summer. In 1979 the festival was moved to August with local downtown merchants having sidewalk sales to coincide with it.The Dundas Cactus Festival is named after Barend (Ben) Veldhuis, a Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
immigrant who ran a large greenhouse specializing in cacti, who was the reason Dundas became known as "the cactus capital of the universe".