2025 Stratford events

In 2025, the Provocation Ideas Festival once again brings together a remarkable constellation of voices—community members, artists, performers, musicians, journalists, storytellers, scholars, urban planners, and culinary innovators—to explore urgent questions of our time under the unifying theme: City of Dreamers. 

Maker Multiverse: Constructing Futures 

We Build What We Imagine: Constructing Stratford's Future Panel Discussion

October 16, 2025 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Copperlight/Knox Presbyterian Church, 

142 Ontario Street, Stratford, ON. 

Join us for We Build What We Imagine: Constructing Stratford’s Future, a lively panel that asks what a truly future-ready Stratford requires—health, affordability, culture, sustainability, and economic dynamism—and how small cities like ours can lead. Panelists will explore how we imagine and plan cities, Stratford’s links to Europe and elsewhere, the role of tourism, social infrastructure and resilience, youth attraction and retention, and which technologies we should embrace or avoid. You’ll hear practical perspectives from Helen Kerr (KerrSmith Design; Practitioner-in-Residence, University of Waterloo's Future Cities Institute), Devon Fernandes (Sustainable Community Builder), Hanna Domagala  (Director of Land Development and Design, BMI Group), Rory Auster (secondary student voice on everyday challenges for youth), and Eric Ball (MakerSpace Coordinator, Stratford Public Library), guided by moderator Kendra Fry (investStratford housing specialist). After the conversation, the floor is yours—post questions, share ideas, and help shape the vision that participants will turn into hands-on city models in the days that follow. 

August 18 – 28, 2025 

Stratford Public Library 

19 St. Andrew St, Stratford, ON 

Join us for this exciting Provocation Ideas Festival/ Stratford Public Library/BMI Group event!!  Drop in to help build an interactive, large-scale model of our local landscape. Collaborate with others to blend real landmarks with imaginative visions of what our community could become. 

 Using recycled materials, LEGO, robotics, and digital tools, this hands-on experience encourages creativity, sustainability, and STEAM learning while inspiring participants to envision and shape our community's future together.  

 Each session includes dreaming, designing, and creating using prompts and vision boards, plus brief show-and-tell segments where participants and community partners share progress and ideas. Show-and-tell sessions are recorded on green screen, virtually transporting presenters into the city model. Highlights will be published on SPL's YouTube channel to celebrate community creativity and collaboration. 

 Ages 6+. Makers under age 10 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.  

Questions? Email Eric at makerspace@splibrary.ca  or call 519-271-0220 x164 

For more details, please visit: Maker Multiverse: Constructing Futures | Stratford Public Library 

Maker Multiverse: Constructing Futures 

October 16- 25, 2025 

Copperlight/Knox Presbyterian Church, 

142 Ontario Street, Stratford, ON. 

This fall, Constructing Futures continues, inviting community members of all ages to shape bold new visions for Stratford. In October 2025, join urban planners, sustainability experts, and design thinkers for a panel discussion where your imagination takes the lead. After engaging with inspiring ideas, you’ll have the chance to craft your own vision for Stratford’s future using the creative materials we provide. 

Creating your vision for Stratford:

October 17, 2025  3:00p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

October 18, 2025 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

October 20, 2025 3:00p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

October 21, 2025  11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Copperlight/Knox Presbyterian Church, basement 

142 Ontario Street, Stratford, ON. 

This Event Is Free



🗓️  Creations will be publicly exhibited October 23, 24, 25 2025  6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

📍 Exhibition Location: Copperlight / Knox Presbyterian Church, basement 

       142 Ontario Street, Stratford, ON. 

Trophy X Dream Weavers

Storytelling that transforms us

Saturday, October 4, 2025  3:00 - 4:30 P.M. and 7:30 - 9:00 P.M.

Sunday, October 5, 2025 1- 2:30 P.M.

290 Downie St, Stratford 

Grand Trunk site — green space across from the bus station 

Step into a circle of light and story. 

Trophy X Dream Weavers transforms Stratford’s historic Grand Trunk site into a glowing village of ten intimate tents, each one home to a powerful tale of transformation, hope, and the dreams that shape who we are. Inside each softly lit space, local storytellers share personal stories that reflect the heart of our region—its turning points, quiet awakenings, and bold aspirations. Audiences of 3-4 are invited into each tent for a close, immersive experience unlike any other. 

After each story, participants are invited to respond—through words or drawings—on colourful acetate sheets that become part of a growing installation inside each tent, weaving together the dreams of many into one luminous community tapestry. Guiding questions like “What moment changed everything for you?” spark both introspection and connection. With storytellers of all ages, including dedicated tents for young voices, Trophy X Dream Weavers is a celebration of imagination, resilience, and shared futures. 

Also on site:

SpringWorks ~ PuppetWorks! joins Trophy X Dream Weavers with playful, drop-in activities that invite kids (and grown-ups) to create and play:

• Sock puppet-making 
• DIY puppet theatre for kid creativity
• Chalk art—decorate to your heart’s content
• Classic games (yes, hopscotch!)

Hours:

• Saturday, October 4, 2025 — 11:00 A.M.–6:00 P.M.
• Sunday, October 5, 2025 — 11:00 A.M.–3:00 P.M.

Good to know

• Story length & flow: Stories run about 4–5 minutes per tent; timing is flexible so you can rotate through the ten tents at your own pace.
• Rain or shine: All activities proceed rain or shine.
• Getting there: Free parking at the Cooper and Downie lots nearby. Public transit encouraged—the bus station is right next to the site.

This is a free, all-ages event. 

Co-presented by the  Trophy, Provocation Ideas Festival, City of Stratford, investStratford and SpringWorks in collaboration with Pathways To Poetry Festival and Stratford Writers Festival. 

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May 31, 2025

No Other Land

No Other Land , the 2025 Academy Award-winning Best Documentary Feature, offers a powerful, firsthand account of the Israeli military's efforts to forcibly displace Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta, a region in the occupied West Bank. Co-written and co-directed by Palestinian filmmaker, lawyer and journalist Basel Adra, Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, Palestinian photographer Hamdan Ballal, and Israeli cinematographer Rachel Szor, the film documents the demolition of homes, destruction of schools, and the filling of water wells with cement to prevent Palestinians from rebuilding on their native land. Through intimate footage and personal narratives, No Other Land captures the resilience of the Palestinian people and the complexities of Israeli-Palestinian relations, offering a poignant exploration of resistance, identity, and the human cost of occupation.

Following the screening of No Other Land , there will be a discussion and Q&A session with seasoned Canadian journalist Jesse Rosenfeld, who has extensively covered wars, occupations, revolts, and resistance in the Middle East, including Israel and Palestine, for outlets such as Rolling Stone Magazine,The Daily Beast, The Nation, The Intercept, and Al Jazeera English. His journalism is the basis of the National Film Board of Canada documentary, Freelancer on the Front Lines. The discussion will be moderated by Deanna Horton, Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and former Canadian diplomat. 

Saturday, May 31, 2025  4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - SOLD OUT

Saturday, May 31, 2025  7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - SOLD OUT

Stratford City Hall Auditorium Theatre

1 Wellington St, Stratford, ON N5A 2L3

Presented in partnership with the Stratford Film Festival.