The Friendship Festival is an annual celebration of the bond between Canada and the United States. This event is held in Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York, which are connected by the Peace Bridge. The festival began in 1987 and is held from June 29 to July 4. These dates encompass Canada Day (July 1) and Independence Day (July 4). The festival also marks the nearly 200 year state of official peace between the two neighbors since the end of the War of 1812.
The festival features a several free concerts each year. It includes rides, vendors, beer gardens, complimentary breakfast each morning, exotic animal displays and much more. The 2007 Friendship Festival featured an Aerosmith cover band, and was a free event. For 2008, Theory of a Deadman played. In 2010, Hedley was the headlining act. In 2012, in lieu of a big name band, Fort Erie's Festival opted to put on a concert series throughout the entire festival, featuring 27 bands from the Niagara and Buffalo areas.
Famous quotes containing the words friendship and/or festival:
“Your friendship oft has made my heart to ache:
Do be my enemy for friendship’s sake.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“Don’t you know there are 200 temperance women in this county who control 200 votes. Why does a woman work for temperance? Because she’s tired of liftin’ that besotted mate of hers off the floor every Saturday night and puttin’ him on the sofa so he won’t catch cold. Tonight we’re for temperance. Help yourself to them cloves and chew them, chew them hard. We’re goin’ to that festival tonight smelling like a hot mince pie.”
—Laurence Stallings (1894–1968)