Great Community Event! How Did Salamanders End Up With Their Own Festival?

The Belfountain Salamander Festival was created to bring people together to celebrate our community, its history, heritage, parks, trails, and, of course, the survival of the endangered salamander.

 

This year we celebrate our 18^th Salamander Festival, in conjunction with Credit Valley Conservation.

How did it all come about?

 

In 1996, the Belfountain Task Force was formed. The Task Force was instrumental in halting a development, planned for the outskirts of the village, that threatened the very essence of our tightly-knit community.

 

The Task Force became the Belfountain Community and Planning Organization (BCPO) which in turn became the Belfountain Community Organization (BCO.)

 

After the threat of the development was neutralized, the BCPO wanted to keep bringing the community close together in a way that didn’t involve undergoing a crisis. The idea of a festival came to mind. It was named after a rediscovered threatened species: the Jefferson Salamander.

 

Money raised from the Festival was used to fund sections of the Erin-Cataract Trailway, walkways, the re-introduction of salmon fry into the Credit River, the Belfountain Public School playground, the Christmas party, and other environmental and community endeavours.

 

This year, funds raised will be used to defend our beautiful and unique Belfountain area against various threats including a development proposed for the same location as the one that was fought successfully 20+ years ago.

 

Remember, “Small IS Beautiful!”