Thunder Bay families looking for affordable summer fun can head to Waverley Park in Port Arthur on Saturday, June 20, when the Lakehead District School Board hosts a signature event at this year’s Festival BONJOUR. The free daytime celebration starts at 11 a.m. and is part of a larger three-day Francophone cultural festival running June 18 to 20.
The Saturday event features live music, food vendors, and family activities, with children and youth 18 and under admitted free. Adults can join in for $20 a day, while seniors 65 and older also get in free. Organizers say the focus is on making French language and culture accessible to everyone in the community.
The full festival, put on by the Coopérative Centre francophone de Thunder Bay Inc., continues a tradition that began in 2007 as the Franco-Festival. Rebranded in 2025, Festival BONJOUR has grown into a three-day showcase of music, food, and arts with performers from Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec. Headliners this year include long-running Francophone group Le Groupe Swing, Manitoba Metis fiddler Alexandre Tétrault, Winnipeg artist Flora Luna, the Martin Blanchet Jazz Quintet, and singer-songwriter Kourage.
Along with the main Saturday event, the festival offers a School Day on June 18 for Grades 5 to 8 students, with workshops in French on music, writing, sewing, and beatmaking. Waverley Park, known as the second oldest municipal park in Ontario, provides a historic backdrop for the celebration, which has become a key cultural gathering for the region.
