The Halton Children's Water Festival is on tap for next week.
The annual educational event, which is co-hosted by Conservation Halton and Halton Region, will be held from Sept. 26 to 29 and is for students in Grades 2 to 5 to teach them about all aspects of water.
This year’s four-day festival will welcome over 3,600 children to Kelso Conservation who will experience hands-on learning through 60 unique activity stations. In 2022, the festival also introduced a complementary virtual module that's running again this fall.
“The festival inspires children to learn through inquiry, problem-solving, and lots of great teamwork,” said Brenna Bartley, Conservation Halton education manager.
“With activity stations like ‘Molecules in Motion’, ‘Waste Not, Want Not’, and ‘Go with the Flow’, children are exploring curriculum-linked concepts in fun and memorable ways. It’s an event that has an incredibly positive impact on young learners - so much so that we see many of these same students returning years later, as volunteers.”
More than 400 high school students volunteer for the event as activity leaders, which helps youth build communication and time management skills while acting as positive role models to the younger cohort.
“The Halton Children’s Water Festival is a unique, educational field-trip experience for students in our watershed,” said Hassaan Basit, president and CEO of Conservation Halton.
“We’re delighted to be working with our partners to host this event once again at Kelso Conservation Area. Over the course of the four-day festival, thousands of children will learn about the importance of healthy watersheds and the steps that everyone can take to help steward our lakes, creeks, rivers, and streams.”
The event launched in 2006 and has reached over 50,000 students from area schools.
“The Halton Children’s Water Festival is an exciting and interactive environment for learning about the importance of water conservation and protection,” said Kiyoshi Oka, director of water and wastewater system services at Halton Region.
“This festival educates and inspires young residents in our community to become environmental stewards of water, one of our most precious natural resources. At Halton Region, we play an important role in providing safe and high-quality drinking water to over 637,000 residents and businesses, as well as protecting our water resources for the future. We are proud to be a partner in the festival and are thankful for the generosity, dedication and collaboration from community partners who help us make this event possible each year.”
The event is held in partnership with both Halton school boards, the Conservation Halton Foundation, City of Burlington, Town of Halton Hills, Town of Oakville and Wilfrid Laurier University.
For further details, visit www.hcwf.ca.
