Friendship Festival
Location: Simcoe Simcoe, Ontario Simcoe is an unincorporated community and former town in Southwestern Ontario, Canada located near Lake Erie. It is the county seat and largest community of Norfolk County.... , 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....
Opened: 1967
Season: August
Sponsor: Rotary Club
Events: duck racing, cow paddy bingo, music shows

The Friendship Festival is a summer event that takes place on the Civic Holiday

Civic Holiday

Civic Holiday is the most widely used name for a public holiday celebrated in parts of Canada on the first Monday in August, though it is only officially known by that term in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba...

 weekend (first weekend in August) in the town of Simcoe, Ontario, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 since 1967.

Summary

Small trinkets and valuable goods are sold in a lively outdoor market that is open from sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight...

 to sunset

Sunset

Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...

. Food items suitable for snacks and light meals are served in certain booths. Most of the items sold at the Friendship Festival are earring

Earring

Common locations for piercings, other than the earlobe, include the rook, tragus, and across the helix . The simple term "ear piercing" usually refers to an earlobe piercing, whereas piercings in the upper part of the external ear are often referred to as "cartilage piercings"...

s, necklace

Necklace

A necklace is an article of jewellery which is worn around the neck. Necklaces are frequently formed from a metal jewellery chain. Others are woven or manufactured from cloth using string or twine....

s, dress

Dress

A dress is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment.Dress may also refer to:*Clothing in general*Costume, fancy dress...

es, and other items oriented towards a female demographic. Music by local artists are also demonstrated in special tents where the people have room to perform their musical artistry of all kinds of genres. The cheerleaders from Simcoe Composite School

Simcoe Composite School

Simcoe Composite School is a high school in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.More than 900 students attend this rural secondary school and courses range from English, French, Spanish, and mathematics to computers, business, athletics, World History, civics, and even drama class. In 2003, the school suffered...

 are also involved in the summer event, giving away raffle tickets to support the local festivities like duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

 races and cow paddy bingo

Bingo (US)

Bingo is a game of chance played with randomly drawn numbers which players match against numbers that have been pre-printed on 5x5 matrices. The matrices may be printed on paper, card stock or electronically represented and are referred to as cards. Many versions conclude the game when the first...

. The Simcoe Reformer

The Simcoe Reformer

The Simcoe Reformer is a newspaper circulating in Norfolk County, Ontario and Haldimand County, Ontario, both in Canada. The Reformer is published weekdays by Bowes Publishers Limited, a subsidiary of Sun Media.-History:In 1858, Dr William H...

 advertises this event throughout Norfolk County

Norfolk County, Ontario

Norfolk County is a rural city-status single-tier municipality on the north shore of Lake Erie in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Bloomsburg is a small town located in Norfolk County and is the hometown of David Slater. The county seat and largest community is Simcoe...

 and Haldimand County

Haldimand County, Ontario

Haldimand is a rural city-status single-tier municipality on the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Erie, and on the Grand River. Municipal offices are located in Cayuga....

 just days prior to the event. The festival can be accessed quickly from the Queensway

Queensway (Simcoe, Ontario)

The Queensway is a two-lane urban street that is considered to be the legal name of Ontario Highway 3 within the community of Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. Limits for the Queensway are considered to be the Quarter Line Road and the Ireland Side Road...

as well as through nearby residential roads.

As of September 2005, the Rotary Club of Simcoe is the title sponsor of the event.