Happenings
The Utopia Hall has been host to many, many events over the years, both public and private. Since our extensive renovations a couple of years ago, the hall is mainly used as a public venue, working hard to fundraise for the FRIENDS OF THE UTOPIA MILL & PARK as well as other good organizations and folks who need a place to gather.
Concerts
Get up close & personal with absolutely wonderful musicians who come to perform from both near and far. You & your friends will enjoy a great evening, most often including a down-to-earth dinner buffet in advance of a terrific concert, held in acoustically-rich, intimate surroundings.
In our early days, Gordon Lightfoot performed here. Sign up to be on our email list to find out who’s coming next.
Seedy Saturday
Hosted by THE FRIENDS OF THE UTOPIA MILL & PARK in partnership with THE HAPPY HENS OF UTOPIA and THE COMPOST COUNCIL OF CANADA, just when you wonder if SPRING will ever come, Seedy Saturday is held to get you geared up for the upcoming gardening season. The seed swap helps share great “I have to have this” packages of home-harvested seeds while the array of local gardening experts will help answer those nagging questions as well as give a boost of inspiration for the growing days ahead.
Our Annual Compost & Mulch Sale
For the past ten years, a truckload of compost and mulch travel the highways from New Brunswick to arrive at the Utopia Hall for our fundraiser, THE ANNUAL COMPOST & MULCH SALE. The amazing generosity of ENVIREM ORGANICS who donate this soil feast allows THE FRIENDS OF THE UTOPIA MILL & PARK to keep the Utopia Conservation Area open at-no-charge to the public as well as raise funds for the preservation and restoration of the Utopia Gristmill.
Usually held during International Compost Awareness Week, our annual sale is the ultimate win-win – you get the best-of-the-best soil-food for your gardens and your purchases help us keep Utopia going.
We appreciate your support.
Canada Day Celebrations
Whether at the Utopia Gristmill or inside at our hall, Canada Day is celebrated annually in Utopia. Bar-b-q’s are fired up, musicians entertain and our pride-of-country is displayed. Come and see our beautiful stone cairn featuring the old Utopia School bell just outside our place which was built in 1967 to commemorate our country’s confederation. And our Centennial Quilt is often displayed on our stage, stitched together by folks in our community with the names of families who have long lived in our area.
The Gristmill Run
The Gristmill Run helps raise funds for the restoration of Bell’s Gristmill and ongoing preservation of the great naturalized greenspace that is the Utopia Conservation Area.
Spearheaded by the Friends of the Utopia Mill & Park, the Fun Run has been scheduled in the heart of the summer so that everyone can come out, support our restoration goal and at the same time, experience the absolute beauty of the Utopia Conservation Area.
There’s a 1K Walk and 5K Run/Walk through the Utopia Conservation Area as well as 10K Bike Ride for those who want to bike their way along the roads of Essa Township to be part of our event.
This now-annual event is held in early August, on the Sunday post the Civic Holiday weekend.
This year, the Gristmill Run will be held on Sunday August 6th with the start & finish line being @ the Utopia Hall (8396 6th Line, Utopia).
Registration opens @ 8:30am.
Come for the Fun. Enjoy the Run (walk, bike ride).
SOUPALICIOUS UTOPIA
Made with the bounty of local harvests and stirred with the love of community sharing, SOUPALICIOUS UTOPIA is simply soup-er. The culinary talents of our nearly chefs, restaurants and caterers create and ladle out a line-up of soup-erb taste sensations for you to SIP, SLURP & SAVOUR.
A favourite staple in our ever-growing foodie calendar, SOUPALICIOUS UTOPIA helps support THE FRIENDS OF THE UTOPIA MILL & PARK and the food-growing & -sharing program, Plant a Row – Grow a Row.
And our event has ZERO WASTE flavour with folks being encouraged to bring their own spoon with the soups being served in compostable cups.
Your bellies will be full and our community spirit soars at SOUPALICIOUS UTOPIA.
So come on over and get ready to slurp.
SANTA PAWS
Absolutely our most favourite event of the year.
We are honoured to have the support of Santa who comes down from the North Pole to spend a few hours with us, usually on the last Sunday of November, from 11am – 2pm.
You & your critters are welcome to come on in and get some great photos with Santa …. Memories that will be cherished forever.
We are grateful to our volunteer photographer, John, who donates his time and talents from this very special family event.
The suggested donation of $10 for the photos is given to the FRIENDS OF THE UTOPIA MILL & PARK.