12/18/2025
Absolutely absurd! This awesome event has been around for years and brought so much money, culture, and excitement to Paris, ON . Sign the petition, send a respectful email, or just get vocal about how silly this all is.
Good luck Paris Drinks Fest team. You all work so hard to pull this off every year and that is exactly what you do!
🍻 🎸 🎉
Speak up ppl!
Many of you have seen the post below from Lukas Oakley, Brant County Ward Two Councillor, who continues to be a great supporter of Paris Drinks Fest. Our team want to provide an update and help answer some questions about what is going on.
Unfortunately, on December 16, County of Brant Council voted 6-3 against our Noise Exemption permit for amplified music at Paris Drinks Fest. The Noise Exemption permit is a standard County of Brant permit we have applied for and received every year since 2018, although this was the first year Council voted on the application, rather than it being reviewed and granted by County of Brant Staff. This was based on the County of Brant receiving 6 complaints about noise at Paris Drinks Fest.
Council has informed us that Paris Drinks Fest is not welcome to return to Syl Apps in 2026, where we have enjoyed two amazing years of the festival after moving from Lions Park following the flooding of that park caused by development.
We wanted to let you know we are looking into all options for Paris Drinks Fest 2026 and are currently looking for a new venue. We have asked the Council for a list of public spaces they would support this event being held at.
Please contact us if you have any ideas!
A few people have suggested we move the event to the Paris Fairgrounds. That event is a beautiful space; however, it is private property and is not available as a rental option for events of this nature. The team at the Fairgrounds are great people and have been very supportive of our event over the past few years.
We are very disappointed with Council’s decision and their lack of interest in supporting local events that benefit residents and the community. A report generated by the province estimated that Paris Drinks Fest 2025 generated approximately $487,000 in economic impact for the region, and we project the festival has generated around $2,500,000 in economic impact since 2018, which directly benefits Paris and the County of Brant. Our Paris Concert Series (formerly the DT Concert Series) at the Rivers Edge and forParis Centre have brought hundreds of artists to Paris since 2017 and provided life-changing nights of live music for thousands of people. We know amazing things can happen in Paris!
We want to thank you for all of the support over the last couple of days. This event was created to support and celebrate community, and reading your comments has reminded us why we spend our lives creating this event.
We want to thank Councillors Kyle, MacAlpine, and Oakley for voting in our favour and continuing to support cultural events in Brant.
If you would like to help, we ask that you email Mayor David Bailey, your Councillors, and include us at [email protected] to let them know how you feel about their decision and the need to support events like this in your community. Please include where you live in your area so Council can understand how events like this benefit you and your neighbours.
Mayor David Bailey - [email protected]
Ward 1
Councillor Jennifer Kyle - [email protected]
Councillor John MacAlpine - [email protected]
Ward 2
Councillor Steve Howes - [email protected]
Councillor Lukas Oakley - [email protected]
Ward 3
Councillor John Bell - [email protected]
Councillor John Peirce - [email protected]
Ward 4
Councillor Robert Chambers - [email protected]
Councillor David Miller - [email protected]
Ward 5
Councillor Brian Coleman - [email protected]
Thank you again for your amazing support and continuing to make us proud of the Paris community!
-The Paris Drinks Fest Team
