Major festival organizers urged to book popular downtown Mississauga venue now

Organizers of large festivals and other big events who want to stage their shows at Celebration Square in Mississauga’s downtown core next year and in 2026 can apply this week to book the popular venue.

Faced with a scheduling crunch in recent years, particularly in trying to accommodate all those who want to host large-scale cultural events during the popular summer festival season, City of Mississauga officials have introduced a plan to address the matter.

City officials say the 2025 Celebration Square Large Event Application Program is a “streamlined process” that allows eligible event organizers to apply for both 2025 and 2026 event dates at the square.

The program creates “a unique opportunity for organizers to plan high-impact, community-focused events” at the venue, they add.

Applications for event dates must be submitted to the city by 4 p.m. this Friday.

City officials note that given the “competitive nature” of bookings for Celebration Square, there’s no guarantee applicants will be successful in getting the dates they want.

Designed to support Mississauga’s “vibrant cultural landscape, the new program aligns with the city’s goals of offering exceptional programming, supporting accessibility, promoting sustainability and driving economic growth,” the city said in a news release Monday.

Each application will be considered based on a set of criteria and event dates will then be allocated to groups, officials say.

Among other criteria, applicants must meet the following standards:

• must have experience with large-scale events
• must demonstrate a track record of fiscal responsibility
• events staged must be open to the public and free of charge
• events staged must have the ability to acquire liability insurance

A list of full criteria is available on the City of Mississauga website.

Back in February as city officials were looking ahead to the busy spring, summer and fall 2024 festival schedule at Celebration Square, they noted they had received 31 applications for events at the venue, with only 17 dates available.

That left numerous well-organized and previously well-attended festivals out in the cold — as far as Celebration Square was concerned — and forced them to work with city officials to find another spot to host their event.

The situation also prompted discussion among councillors that perhaps it was time Mississauga build another large venue like Celebration Square elsewhere in the city — ideally close to the City Centre.

“We’re a very big city now and we have a very large multicultural population, and the disappointment that’s being experienced (by festival organizers and those who attend the events) is not good for us,” then-Ward 5 Coun. Carolyn Parrish, now the city’s mayor, said at the time in pushing the idea of a second major venue for festivals.