Billy Talent headlined the final night of Sarnia’s Bluewater BorderFest on June 21, 2025, capping off a three-day music festival at Centennial Park overlooking Sarnia Bay. The Canadian rock band, formed in Mississauga in 1993, returned to Sarnia for the first time since Bayfest in 2005, making it a long-awaited homecoming for local fans.
The Saturday lineup also featured Hinder, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Faber Drive. The festival ran from June 19 to 21, with American country artist Chase Rice opening on Thursday, and The Fray headlining Friday alongside Big Wreck, Econoline Crush, and Kim Mitchell.
Bluewater BorderFest is Sarnia-Lambton’s largest annual music event and is billed as ‘Canada’s Summer Kick Off Concert.’ It draws more than 10,000 visitors and pumps an estimated $2 million to $4 million into the local economy each year. The festival is run entirely by a volunteer committee with no paid staff and operates as a not-for-profit.
Major sponsors for the 2025 edition included Park Lane Chevrolet, Bud Light, and Nicole Smith Realty. Tickets were sold through TicketScene.
The 2025 event was the ninth edition of the festival, which launched in 2017 and has become a major tourism draw. Mark Perrin, the former Tourism Sarnia-Lambton executive director who helped develop the festival, left the organization in March 2025 after about seven years.
