Images
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![A painted floor covering stretches over the flooring of a room.]()
Traditional floorcloth in the dining room of the John Brown House. -
![A group of people gather in front of a stone historic house.]()
A crowd gathers in front of the John Brown House. -
![Children stand over a table, using cut carrots, celery and potatoes to stamp paint onto paper.]()
Children create artwork using harvested vegetables. -
![Two hands working with dried flax on a wooden table.]()
Flax to linen demonstration.
Autumn Playday at the Homestead
In-person
Agriculture Architecture Craft History & heritage StorytellingDate and time
Location
The Brown Homestead
1317 Pelham Road
St. Catharines, ON
Directions: From Toronto: Take the Queen Elizabeth Way Niagara-bound toward St. Catharines. Take exit 51 for Seventh Street and continue on to Regional Road 81, turn left towards Fifth Street Louth, and left again at Pelham Road. From Niagara Falls: Take the QEW toward St. Catharines. Take Exit 49 for Glendale Avenue / Niagara-on-the-Lake / Airport. Turn left onto Glendale Avenue, then continue on to Pelham Road and turn left.
Access
Free, and accepts optional pay-what-you-may donations for admission.
Offered in English.
Has gender-neutral washrooms.
About
Autumn Playday invites families to experience Niagara’s agricultural heritage through a hands-on day of storytelling, food, and history. Explore the historic John Brown House (c. 1796), create harvest-inspired crafts, discover the journey from flax to linen, uncover local archaeology, and enjoy stories that bring our past into the present.
Sit down for a storytime with the St. Catharines Public Library, discover the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum Tiny Museums, watch the short vignette "Brief Encounters" from Essential Collective Theatre, and savour the flavours of Char-in-the-Kitchen.
This free drop-in event is part of Canada’s nationwide Culture Days festival, and generously supported by Ontario Culture Days.
Celebrate the land, traditions, and people that have shaped rural Niagara.
Links
- The Brown Homestead Website thebrownhomestead.ca
Organizer
The Brown Homestead
The Brown Homestead serves as a model of how historic sites can become creative educational leaders and community catalysts. We believe that the role of historic sites is to feed the human spirit by celebrating and sharing the inspiring stories of our communities. Since 2015, we have been hard at work conserving and re-imagining this historic place as a community gathering space and cultural hub for Niagara. Our programming and exhibits focus on rural Niagara history, heritage conservation, and the history of site and the cultural landscapes surrounding us.