Dear Community Supporter,

First and foremost, we would like to thank you for your continued support of Bayfest throughout the years. We are thankful to live in community that supports one another and the organizations within it.

Planning has already begun for our annual Labour Day celebration that happens annually for the more than 30 years. Originally known as Tomato Fest, the name changed to Bayfest in 2001 and our organizing committee continues to succeed in keeping these small town traditions alive each year.

We have many new and exciting plans already in the works for 2023 and we look forward to bringing back many new and old events and we continue to re-build our festival after facing many challenges the past few years. We want to continue to provide a fun family filled weekend of events to our town.

Our festival runs on the fund we raise and the donations we receive each year. Our committee plans a number of community fundraisers each year and this year we are looking to expand our sponsorship campaign for 2023. We invite you as a business owner and community supporter to think about contributing to our efforts.

A downloadable document is available which outlines our sponsorship levels and the recognition you will receive as a sponsor at each level. We recognize the importance of our sponsors and we will work with you if our defined levels do not suit your needs.

If you wish to be a sponsor,you can complete the sponsorship form and email it back to bayfestsponsorship@gmail.com or alternatively you could reach out to a committee member to state you rinterest. A committee member will contact you to finalize the sponsorship details with you.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 519-429-1748 or at the email above. Thank you again for your time and your support of Bayfest throughout the years!

Dear Bayfest friends, supporters and the Port Rowan community,

We wanted to take a minute to update you on our plans for Bayfest 2020.

Our annual festival is a long standing tradition in Port Rowan and with everything that is happening with COVID-19 right now, we were hopeful that this annual tradition would be able to bring the community together and celebrate as we normally would on Labour Day.

The committee has been mulling this decision over since this pandemic started, but unfortunately, we have to cancel Bayfest for this year. It is disheartening for us, as it is for our community we are sure, but we want to keep the safety and health of our community our top priority. With no clear outline on when people will be able gather in groups let alone in large setting such as a community festival, the committee cannot properly plan for an event of this scale.

The festival also relies heavily on local community support, business donations and sponsorships, and we cannot ask local business to support us, some who have not been open for many weeks, when they will need the community to support them when that time comes and they can reopen.

We were optimistic that we would be able to continue in some capacity this year on a smaller scale such as a one day event, but we have also been notified that Norfolk County, will not be issuing special event permits till at least September 7th 2020, so we are unable to proceed with any smaller type event.

We want to thank you and the business community for supporting us year after year, we will still be selling tickets and holding our Gun Raffle to be drawn September 4th, 2020 as previously announced. You can contact a Bayfest Committee member who will ensure you can purchase a ticket/s.

As hard as this is, the committee will continue to fund-raise when we are able to, and we will continue to plan for next year and focus on bringing new exciting things to Bayfest in 2021. We want to ensure this great tradition continues, in a town we are all proud to call home.

We hope everyone stays safe and takes care of each other in this great community.

Your Bayfest Committee