Fun, free Saturday events to get you through winter in Paris
Get out and about with a roving murder mystery, foodie sampler tour or art crawl.
The Downtown Paris BIA will host a smorgasbord of fun and free adventures to get people out and about on Saturday afternoons through the winter.
The initiative, called “Saturdays in Paris,” which starts on Jan. 4 and is helmed by the BIA and project managed by Big Cityyy Arts, aims to keep the small town’s downtown core bustling post-holiday.
“Christmas in Downtown Paris is always a beautiful time and this year was no exception. We (the BIA) are now focusing our attention to our slow season … and letting people know that Paris is still a fun place to be,” Matt Cummings, Downtown Paris BIA chair and business owner, told The Spectator on Monday.
To combat the lull, there are 13 weeks of activities, workshops and performances, like an “original roving murder mystery” written by local playwright Heather Ashby and performed by members of Paris Performers’ Theatre, Rubyyy Jones from Big Cityyy Arts told The Spectator.
Aspiring detectives can drop in to the Paris branch of the County of Brant Public Library between 1 and 4 p.m. on Jan. 25 to get started, and collect clues from local businesses to solve the mystery.
On Feb. 1, the “Foodie Sampler Tour” is like a “downtown Paris version of a trip to Costco,” with many businesses offering bite-sized tasters, with a sticker book for kids to collect “samples” along the way, Jones said.
The activities are primarily outdoors, spread along what Jones calls the “Paris ‘P’ path” — a roughly 700-metre loop that includes Grand River Street North, Paris Wincey Mills Co. and the library.
All are welcome, with materials, ingredients and instructions supplied by the Downtown Paris BIA, which received funding from the Hamilton Halton Brant Regional Tourism Association for wintertime programming.
And while it’s a BIA event, the County of Brant has been “a great partner in all of our initiatives,” Cummings said.
By Celeste Percy-Beauregard, The Hamilton Spectator
