Search
Close this search box.

, , ,

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation September 30, 2023

On September 30 we will join people across the country in observing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day was created in 2021 to recognize the tragic legacy of residential schools, the missing children, the families left behind and the survivors of these institutions.

The BIA Board of Directors and Staff will have the day off for reflection and learning. We have an opportunity to consider what we might choose for this day; individually and collectively.

The Downtown Stratford BIA will be running a series of short films by Indigenous creators and filmmakers throughout the day as learning opportunities for settlers and all who wish to grow their understanding. This will be a FREE event for attendees sponsored by the DTS BIA.

Little Prince Micro-Cinema & Lounge | 62 Wellington St – Stratford

September 30 – 10 am – 1:30 pm & 4 pm – 10 pm

Free popcorn is included. The cinema can host 13 people at a time. This will be an alcohol-free day.

Looking for some excellent resources and information on National Day for Truth & Reconciliation? Find Community Initiatives, and listen to stories, histories, and worldviews as told by Indigenous voices. Want to know more about Orange Shirt Day? This is the link for you: https://splibrary.ca/national-day-truth-reconciliation

More resources from the Government of Canada site: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html

The Falstaff Family Centre is hosting six days of by-donation activities from Sept. 25-30 in support of Truth and Reconciliation Week and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. A list of those events HERE.

How do you intend to honour National Truth and Reconciliation Day this Friday, September 30th? We have more suggestions.

  • Participate in events in our area and the region
  • Spend the day in reflection and conversation with friends and family
  • Wear Orange T-shirts in support of the day (purchased from and made by Indigenous artists and businesses)
  • Consider donating to an Indigenous organization locally or across Turtle Island
  • Read the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
  • Purchase a book by an Indigenous writer from one of our local bookstores, our local library, or an Indigenous-owned business online

May we grow as a learning city, acknowledging that the path to reconciliation and anti-racism is ongoing and requires the commitment and best of us all.

  • Related BIA News:

Welcome to the Worth Beauty Collective and to Becky Worth who has brought together a team of amazing practitioners who are at the ready to make you look and feel...

Welcome to The Collaborative Psychotherapy Counselling & Consulting, whose offices opened last month by the formidable trio Rebecca Cuthbert, Karen Slater and Maggie Blake.  Their paths crossing organically over these past...

Our Downtown Stratford Annual WINTER WANDER-LAND is BACK – BIGGER & BETTER!We’re almost ready for a full weekend of festive fun as we kick off the holiday season with exciting...

🍬👻 Join us for Downtown HALLOWEEN FUN this year. We’re trick-or-treating across the downtown core on Saturday, October 26th from 2-4pm. Because every kid (or dog) wants a chance to...

Welcome to Chuck’s Roadhouse that opened last week on Market Place!  Co-owners, Milan Champaneria and Jay Patel, each have more than 10 years in the restaurant industry, six of which they...

In partnership with the Stratford Festival, we’re helping celebrate 100 years with the CJCS Centennial Family Fair in Downtown Market Square! HEAD DOWNTOWN Saturday, August 24th, from 11AM to 3PM...

Calling ALL Theatre & Shopping LOVERS! Get your ticket to savings! Shop, dine, play and SAVE! Get a mid-week festival promo and 10% off downtown shopping and dining. Stratford is...

Let’s celebrate active transportation and public space transformation TOGETHER with a Barricade Art (Public Art) Project Grand Opening and our last Car-Free Friday of the season. Nestled between Chocolate Barrs...

Our 2nd Annual Dog Days of Summer event on June 20th was a huge hit. We made it through the heat and beat the incoming storm. So many amazing dogs...

Introducing our FREE Downtown Stratford SNIFFARI Map. A map designed for dogs to have the most incredible enrichment experience while they wander through the downtown streets. THE NOSE KNOWS when...

🌞✨ Get ready to hit the ultimate downtown summer shopping spree! Our Summer Sidewalk Sale is coming this July, bringing you unbeatable deals and incredible finds right on the streets....

June marks the start of Bike Month, World Cycle Day (June 3rd), and (hooray) our Downtown Stratford Car-Free Friday events (first one Friday, June 7, 8-10am). We’re welcoming another year...

We’re launching our Dog Days of Stratford with TWO EXCITING OCCASIONS. A Sniffari Map Kick-Off and our 2nd Annual Dog Days of Summer event on June 20th from 4-6pm in...

Whether you’re going the “conventional route” or looking for something unique…whether you’re spoiling the mama in your life, or someone without one… Downtown Stratford is FILLED with cool ideas. Here...

Streets of Downtown: Member Musings is a new weekly blog series written and contributed by Downtown Stratford Members of our community. Business owners, passionate employees, and community enthusiasts, “experts in...

WANDER TO WIN one of four $100 prizes! We’re having a 4-week INSTAGRAM CONTEST while we promote TEN BUCKS BACK! Join our Winter Walk Around the Block GIVEAWAY – starting...

FINAL UPDATE: PROGRAM IS NOW CLOSED. WE’VE GIVEN AWAY OUR $10,000 IN TEN BUCKS BACK. Thank you to everyone who participated. Remember to use your vouchers by April 30, 2024....

Let your NY resolutions come alive downtown!! Are you a NY resolution type? What is at the top this year? Are you looking to add something new to your roster of...

We’re thrilled to share with you the first Stratford Winter Film Festival (SWFF)*. Coming this February and running from Friday, February 9th to Sunday, February 11th 2024. It will shine a...

PUBLIC ART has become an important (perhaps essential) piece of our Downtown landscape. We recently commissioned one of our incredible, selected artists, Lauren Kenny, to create a public art piece...

WOW! This past year has marked some pretty spectacular milestones. Our Downtown BIA turned 50. We launched a Pet-Friendly campaign. We saw the return of events and initiatives that were...

Kids are home. The excitement wears down. The gift opening has finished. NOW WHAT?! We’re happy to announce that we have ideas!! And you can do it all in Downtown...

Prepare to be “downtown dazzled”! Lights On Stratford is BACK for another season of twinkly magic. From December 15th, 2023 to January 12th, 2024, Thursdays to Sundays, 5 to 10pm,...

**UPDATE: GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED! Thank you for participating. A super exciting feature of the holiday season, our Downtown Winter Wander-land Shop & Dine Guide runs from November 13th to December...

The Downtown Stratford Business Improvement Area (BIA), representing over 400 property and business owners, is sharing with you today to voice our concern for the business community and the residents...

Our downtown Winter Wander-land in Stratford ON is making a dazzling return, and it will be better than ever! Prepare to be enchanted by all the cherished comforts, from the...

🎄🌟🧦 And JUST LIKE THAT… we switch into winter mode! The downtown streets already have a festive feel. From window transforming to the DS Chocolate Trail starting. And with the...

Fall IN LOVE with Downtown Stratford this Autumn. Glittered in pumpkin spice, glowing in the afternoon harvest sun, and filled with vibrant fall colours and decor. How do you intend...

A time for expressing gratitude and a time for enjoying the bounty of fall. This year Downtown Stratford is glittered in pumpkin spice, glowing in the afternoon harvest sun, and...

Are you an artist located in Stratford, Ontario, or with a strong connection to the city, who is interested in gaining public art experience and building your practice? The Downtown...

Our Downtown Stratford BIA (formally Stratford City Centre) turned 50 on August 27th! Enjoy this remind in time!! 1973-2023

BACK-TO-SCHOOL! It’s that bittersweet time of year again! We are saddened for the end of summer, welcome and loathe the cooler weather simultaneously, are super ready for school to once...

JOIN US for Family Fair in the Square on August 12th from 11am to 3pm. We’re celebrating turning 50 years old and we’re merging with Stratford Festival for this FREE-FUN-FAMILY...

We are delighted to announce this year’s downtown Family Summer Scavenger Hunt! ENTER HERE! The fun has just begun.⁠ ⁠ It’s all conveniently ONLINE this year! You can participate using...

Downtown Stratford is “officially” becoming pet-friendly and we’re kicking it off on June 22nd from 4-6pm in Market Square. Join us for tail-wagging fun and water lapping adventures, as we...

We know we’re bias, but… we have a PERFECT GIFT IDEA for dad. We KNOW we know. Because dads are notoriously difficult to shop for. And sometimes nothing says I...

We’re thrilled to welcome back Car-Free Friday on June 2 from 8-10am — just in time for World Cycle Day. What is Car-Free Friday? It’s a celebration in active transportation....

Join us for all of 2023 as we celebrate turning 50 YEARS OLD! Can you believe it? August 26, 2073 the Business Improvement Area (BIA) was first formed – then...

Whether you’re going the “conventional route” or looking for something unique…whether you’re spoiling the mama in your life, or someone without one… Downtown Stratford is FILLED with cool ideas. Here...

What is there to do in Downtown Stratford for Mother’s Day? Oh… we can think of many ways to embrace and celebrate all the moms, mums, and mothers in your...

Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. We’re observing (and honouring) this day by acknowledging it all month long throughout our downtown core....

And our winner is… JANITA FOWLER!!

**UPDATE: Now over – but get your receipts in by March 11th** We’re so very excited to bring back this fun to our downtown. For every $100 spent between February...

Downtown Stratford is STAYING OPEN LATE on Friday, January 27th and Saturday, January 28th!!! With an exciting contest and Lights On Stratford… EXCITING NEWS!! The dazzling Lights On Stratford has...

We cannot express our delight enough. The Winter Wander-land Guide was a smashing hit. We had 255 entries and many more participants. You really DO love our downtown. We’re also...

We’ve launched our Downtown Stratford BIA Winter Wander-land Guide that offers validation stickers as you shop and dine – collect 8 stickers to win one of 4 prize packages (valued...

WINTER WANDER-LAND is BACK!!! And this time over two weekends, with more to offer.⁠ Carousels and firepits… scavenger hunts and blacksmiths… a fun adventure through our downtown shops and restaurants...

It’s finally happening! More public art is coming to Downtown Stratford. The BIA’s vision for this public mural project is to enhance Stratford’s reputation as a vibrant cultural destination and...

Remembrance Day Ceremony and March 2022 Join us this Friday for the 2022 Remembrance Day Ceremony and March. The event is scheduled to take place on Friday, November 11, 2022,...

Halloween is the gift that keeps on giving – and doesn’t have to stop on the 31st. Not with the 2022 Stratford Pumpkin Parade.⁠ ⁠ Join in the fun on Tuesday,...

These are very busy days for the city of Stratford as all the hopeful candidates running forelection have been working hard to get their platforms out to help you reach...

It’s finally happening! More public art is coming to Downtown Stratford. The BIA’s vision for this public mural project is to enhance Stratford’s reputation as a vibrant cultural destination and...

How is it that Thanksgiving is already just around the corner?! We are THANKFUL and GRATEFUL that you continue to support our downtown small businesses. It has been an epic...

The Public Art Plan for Downtown Stratford BIA will reflect on the history and future of the Stratford community in an engaging and thought-provoking way to revitalize the experience of...

The BIA Board and Advocacy and Education subcommittee have chosen to observe September 30th as one to learn more about our collective history, support the Indigenous community here and across...

downtown

dollars

Support our Downtown Stratford businesses by purchasing Downtown Dollars that never expire!