For nearly 40 years, twice a week during the summer, Stratford locals have gathered in Upper Queens Park to hear a band play.
Since 1987, there have been free concerts at the bandshell, supported by the local Kiwanis service club, which also sustains the annual Kiwanis Music Festival competition held in the spring. Currently the bandshell concerts run on Wednesdays and Sundays from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., mid-June to early September.
On Wednesdays, the Stratford Concert Band plays. This group has 52 members, two of whom have been with the band for more than 50 years and another 14 for more than 25 years. The concert band advertises that “each show is two halves approximately 30 to 45 minutes long, with a 15- minute intermission in between. The music played consists of songs we have performed during our (winter) concert season, as well as some new ones we have learned for the summer. Genres include concert melodies, swing tunes, show tunes, classical works, and much more.” While there is no charge for the concert, attendees are invited to make a donation to the band.
On Sundays, a variety of bands from Stratford and beyond take the stage. Every year we try to take in the Festival City Big Band, which plays swing music and many of the 1940s’ standards my mother loved. The Sunday concert we caught recently, earlier in July 2026, featured Just Like New, a local six-piece band. One of my husband’s seemingly endless line of cousins (his first cousin’s son, so first cousin once removed) plays slide guitar in this group. There were cousins aplenty who came out to cheer him on, carting camp chairs and canned drinks to make the evening more comfy. I counted around 300 people in the audience with many folks greeting one another – friends, family, neighbours.
The Kiwanis Club built this bandshell, which is used for other performances and as the centre stage for a variety of community and fundraising events based at Queen’s Park. You can see the iconic Stratford Festival Theatre through the trees, just to the west. The club also refurbished some permanent bench seating in front of the bandstand, using recycled wood and plastic in Kiwanis-toned blue. People who don’t bring their own seating will use these benches, or the park’s picnic tables, or even just spread out on the grass.
During the concerts, some people get up and dance in front of the stage. There’s a large area of play equipment near the bandshell where kids burn off their endless energy, bopping to the music beat. People walk their dogs through the park, stopping for a time to listen. Some bring picnics to have before or during the show. While the crowd does skew older, many young families take advantage of a free activity that doesn’t require the kids to sit still.
The concert series, whose dates are listed on the Destination Stratford website, normally run in all weather conditions. “When we say rain or shine, we mean it!” proclaims the site.
However, the Big Smoke of 2026, where the air quality in southern Ontario became toxic from northern Ontario wildfire smoke, was finally a condition in which musicians could not play, and audience members would be at too much risk. The organizers cancelled these outdoor concert performances over the days when Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index, that ranks air quality from 1 (good/low risk) to 10 (high risk) was at 10+ in Southern Ontario – “very high risk”.
When weather conditions are not apocalyptic, the Concerts in the Park provide a gentle, accessible way for family and friends to connect in Stratford while enjoying some tunes enhanced by bird song and tree-leaf percussive shimmers. It’s a summer tradition that, let’s hope, will play on for many years to come.
