Explore Your City! June Family Fun Weekend with Windsor’s 132nd Birthday Celebration, Meet-A-Machine and More!

The City of Windsor is announcing details for an upcoming full weekend of all-ages fun and activities, June 7 through June 9, 2024.

For this year, the weekend will include the city’s annual birthday celebration paired up with several popular community events and family-friendly activities spread out across various areas of the city. Residents and visitors of all ages are invited to Explore Your City, embarking on a journey of exploration to uncover some of the unique places, spaces and experiences that make Windsor unforgettable and special. A special passport will be available to download, or for pickup at the Windsor132 Birthday Celebration at the WFCU Centre on June 8. Explorers who visit at least two of the activities listed below and submit their Explore Your City Passport at any City of Windsor community centre by July 1, 2024, will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a Celebration Prize Basket!

The weekend’s full festivities include:

City of Windsor’s 132nd Birthday Celebration

WFCU Centre, 8787 McHugh Street.
Saturday, June 8, 2024.10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free admission.

As with past city birthday celebrations, the party will include free birthday cupcakes (while supplies last); a ceremonial cutting of the birthday cake with Mayor Drew Dilkens and members of City Council; live performances by local musicians and cultural groups; information booths; family-friendly activities; and additional special performances throughout the day to showcase Windsor’s diversity, talent, and creativity. The birthday festivities are brought to you by the City of Windsor and are made possible – in part – through the sponsorship and partnership of many businesses and community organizations, including Atura Power, University of Windsor Alumni Association, AM800 CKLW, Cogeco/YourTV, CTV, Museum Windsor, Art Windsor-Essex (AWE), Adventure Bay Family Water Park Presented by WFCU Credit Union, LiUNA! 625, Tourism Windsor-Essex Pelee Island, WIFF20 – the Windsor International Film Festival, and more.

Meet-A-Machine

WFCU Centre, 8787 McHugh Street.
Saturday, June 8, 2024. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free admission.

For the first time ever, the City of Windsor’s birthday celebration is being paired up with the beloved Meet-A-Machine event at the WFCU Centre. Meet-A-Machine is hosted by the City’s Children’s Services Department. The event features opportunities to “meet” an amazing array of machines of all shapes and sizes, and their operators, including emergency vehicles, construction equipment, military trucks, buses, forestry trucks, race cars, tow trucks, and more on display for children to discover and explore. With the goal of raising awareness of physical literacy components in the world of machines, there are literacy activities and free activity books, as well as a KidZone with games and activities for the little ones, and free children’s train rides.

A Sensory-Friendly Hour is offered from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. for those who wish to enjoy the event without the noise, lights and some additional interactive elements to the displays. Sensory-Friendly Hour registration is required. Check out this Meet-A-Machine Looking Back video from past events.

Windsor International Film Festival – WIFF Under The Stars

Vision Corridor green space (alongside Chimczuk Museum and Art Windsor-Essex, 401 Riverside Drive West).
June 7 to 9, 2024. Various times. Free admission.

To kick off WIFF’s milestone 20th Anniversary celebrations, WIFF Under the Stars returns to Downtown Windsor for a weekend of free outdoor community screenings of a variety of family classics, blockbuster hits, and new Canadian titles, including 101 Dalmatians, A Year in the Forest, Barbie, Black Panther, Elemental, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2, Oppenheimer, The Blair Witch Project, The Little Mermaid, The Princess Bride, Walkerville’s Willistead Manor: The Home That Shaped A Community, and more! WIFF Under the Stars 2024 is proudly supported by the University of Windsor Graduate Student Society and the Odette-Kaye Family Foundation. Explore the full schedule of WIFF Under the Stars screenings.

Museum Windsor’s Chimczuk Museum and Art Windsor-Essex (AWE)

401 Riverside Drive West.
Saturday, June 8, 2024. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free admission.

In addition to its permanent exhibitions, children’s gallery and learning space, and a gift shop packed with locally made goods, the Chimczuk Museum currently features temporary exhibitions including “Chariots of Fire: A History of Windsor’s Firefighting Equipment,” “Mary Ann Shadd Cary Bicentennial Display,” and the “Lebanese Community of Windsor.” Upstairs at Art Windsor-Essex, current exhibitions include “Community Display: School of Creative Arts BFA 2024,” “Waawiiatanong Forever,” “The Once and Future City,” “Nii Ndahlohke / I Work,” and more.

For a complete, up-to-date description of the of the events and a list of all corresponding activities, as available, please visit the City of Windsor Birthday page.

June is Recreation and Parks Month 

Various locations and activities all month long.

Explore Your City coincides with June is Recreation and Parks Month at the City of Windsor. Throughout the month, our community centres will offer daily activities and engagement opportunities. Learn more about June is Recreation and Parks Month, and stay tuned for a list of exciting activities in the city of Windsor.

Everyone is invited to accept the invitation to Explore Your City, June 7 to 9, 2024, and encouraged to take photos to capture the special moments and share them with us online using hashtags #Windsor132, #HappyBDayWindsor, #DiscoverYQG, #WIFF20, and #CityWindsor.

Quotes: 

“Windsor is a community unlike any other, and we have much to celebrate once again this year. For 2024, we’re continuing the tradition of a family-fun weekend in June to celebrate the city’s birthday, and this time moving the party to a new area of the city and pairing it up with the fantastic Meet-A-Machine event at the WFCU Centre. This year, we’re also highlighting lots of incredible opportunities to explore the city – including free admission to the Chimczuk Museum, Art Windsor-Essex, and WIFF Under the Stars in downtown Windsor. This format allows us to leverage strong community partnerships with our friends at Children’s Services, the Province of Ontario, WIFF, and others to offer a little something for everyone June 7 through 9. I’m grateful to all the organizers, partners, sponsors, volunteers and supporters of these various community events, and I look forward to celebrating with residents and visitors a few weeks from now.” - Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens