September is our favourite month to be here, and we will happily argue about it with anyone.
The summer crowds thin out. The patios stay open. The grapes come in. And the calendar quietly fills up with the sort of thing that does not happen in July, because in July nobody has the room.
We cannot fit everything happening across our twelve municipalities into one page, and September does not make that easy. Here is what we would make time for.
Festivals and big nights out
Salsa at Niagara Falls
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, noon to 10 p.m. both days · Clifton Hill and the Niagara River Parkway, Niagara Falls
Two stages, three dancing areas, lessons for beginners, and a fireworks show at ten choreographed to salsa. The first festival of its kind in the region, and it is taking over the gardens at the falls to do it. Read the full story, or let us plan your whole weekend around it. Learn more.
Niagara Grape and Wine Festival
Weekends through September · Wineries across the region, then Montebello Park, St. Catharines
This is the harvest festival, and it takes up most of the month. The Discovery Pass runs the weekends of 4 to 6, 11 to 13 and 18 to 20 September, with tastings at more than twenty-five wineries across Niagara. Then the whole thing moves into Montebello Park in St. Catharines from 25 to 27 September, where getting into the park is free and the Grande Parade comes through downtown at 11 a.m. on the Saturday. Sloan play the park on the Thursday night. Passes, schedule and parade route.
Night of Art
Thursday 17 September, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Free · The Niagara Falls Exchange, the Niagara Falls History Museum and the grounds between them
Fifteen years of this now. Art installations, live music, live improv, video work, artisan vendors and food trucks, spread across three venues on one evening. Presented by the City of Niagara Falls. If you have never been, this is the year. Learn more about the Night of Art.
Labour Day weekend fireworks
Saturday 5 to Monday 7 September · Niagara Falls
The last long weekend of the summer, and the falls mark it properly. The Skylon observation deck is one of the best seats in the city for both the fireworks and the illumination, and you can make a dinner of it. Buy your tickets and plan your visit.
Out of doors
Wilderness Weekends: Painting the Gorge
Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Free, twenty places per day · Niagara Parks
An outdoor watercolour workshop on the edge of the gorge. Whether you have painted before or have not picked up a brush since school, you will leave knowing how to put a landscape on paper. Twenty places a day means this will go. Sign up to paint on Niagara Parks’ website.
Voyage to the Falls
Daily · Niagara Falls
Twenty minutes to the base of the Canadian Horseshoe with Niagara City Cruises, the official boat tour operator for Niagara Parks. Everyone tells you to do this in July. Do it in September instead, when the boat is calmer and the light is better. Book your fall tour now.
Wine, food and a very good brunch
Harvest at the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake
All month · Niagara-on-the-Lake
Harvest is the busiest the wineries get all year, and the member calendar fills up to match. Corks and Chords puts live music on at Queenston Mile Vineyard every Thursday evening. FRESH Fridays means half-price wine by the glass and flights at Shiny Apple Cider. Niagara College Teaching Winery pours Friday Night Pints. Palatine Hills runs a Sunday morning run club, which is either the best or the worst idea you have heard all month. Peller Estates hosts its Exclusive Pairing Experience on Saturday the 19th. The calendar shifts week to week, so look before you go. See the full member calendar.
Sunday brunch at Queenston Heights
Every Sunday · Queenston
The Niagara River winding below, the escarpment behind, and a locally sourced menu from Chef Bill Greenan and the Queenston Heights team. It has won awards and it deserves them. Reservation required, and worth booking further ahead than you think. Book your September brunch reservation now.
An evening with Erik Estrada at STK
Friday 18 September, 6 p.m. · STK Steakhouse, Hyatt Regency Niagara Falls/Fallsview, 6700 Fallsview Boulevard
A four-course dinner with the CHiPs star himself. Limited seats. For the rest of the month, STK runs a live DJ from 7 p.m. every night and Steak Night from Sunday to Thursday. Check their event calendar for more.
Theatre, heritage and culture
Heartbreak House at the Shaw Festival
Until 3 October · Niagara-on-the-Lake
Shaw at his most entertaining and his most mysterious, and often ranked among the great plays. The third of October is the last performance before the schedule resets for winter, so if you have been meaning to get to the Shaw this season, the clock is now genuinely running. Buy tickets to the Shaw Festival Theatre.
Around Niagara-on-the-Lake
All month · Niagara-on-the-Lake
The town never really stops. Historical walking tours, the NOTL Museum garden party, art exhibits, and live music at the Irish Harp Pub. Visit their website for more events.
Getting here and getting around
Niagara Airbus
Year-round
Sightseeing tours, winery tours, airport shuttles and door-to-door service. Useful if your weekend involves a tasting room and nobody wants to be the designated driver. CAA members can Buy One Adult Seat, Get One Kid Seat for Free until 31 October. Book your shuttle or tour.
Running something we have missed?
Send it to us on social, or tag us in your posts and we will share it. That is where everything happening in Niagara gets passed around, and it is the fastest way to reach people who are out looking for something to do this weekend.
