By Sault Tourism
Fall Rendezvous Festival, at the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site, is a 4-day event, hosted each September by the Friends of Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site. The festival, this year occurring September 25th – 28th, is a chance to immerse yourself in the history of the war of 1812 and the daily life of the early 1800’s, through a number of live reenactments including; canon and musket fire, Indigenous storytellers, workshops and more!
Keep reading to learn more about the Fall Rendezvous Festival.
Four Days of Festival
The Fall Rendezvous Festival starts on Wednesday, September 25th and will run for four days until Saturday, September 28th, 2024. The event is open to the public, as well as for groups including School Groups, from 10am to 4pm for each day.
Admission is by donation (pay what you can) and includes entrance to the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site heritage buildings and grounds, as well as interaction and knowledge sharing with 36 heritage performers including Francophone and Indigenous storytellers. See the Red Coats and the flash in the pan, smell the gunpowder as the muskets and cannons ignite, hear the drumming and our storytellers, taste Algoma Country’s culinary samplings. Immerse yourself!
Canon and Musket Firing
A fun part of the Fall Rendezvous Festival is the historical reenactments from the period surrounding the war of 1812. Restored canons and muskets from the era are fired at regular intervals throughout the festival, with groups of onlookers and spectators kept at a safe range. 🙂
Expect the canon to fire every hour or more frequently when groups are on tours!
Heritage Performers & Activities
There are 36 heritage performers and exhibits present at the Festival. These include Coureur du Bois, Voyageurs, Métis, quill work, drumming & Indigenous song, sacred plants and teachings – all in live performance! Thinking Rock Community Arts will be on site on Friday.
Saturday will also see the addition of tasty local samplings from Hogan’s Homestead, Beaver Tails food trailer and Chef Zach Keeshig (ticketed event, details about tickets coming soon).
The site is accessible with parking, boardwalks, washrooms and audio tours.
Chef Zach Keeshig
A new addition to this year’s event is Chef Zach Keeshig. Chef Zach will be doing demonstration and talk about indigenous culinary canapés, utilizing foraged foods and sacred plants. This is a ticketed event and more details will be released soon. Information about Chef Zach is below:
Zach Keeshig was born in Wiarton, Ontario but raised in Owen Sound, he attended culinary school locally at Georgian college under Anthony Bevan. After culinary school Zach apprenticed locally under Chef Tim Johnston (Cobble beach), Later working at regarded restaurants such as Langdon Hall (Cambridge), Micheal Stadtlander’s Eigensinn farm (Singhampton), Restaurant Pearl Morissette (Jordan, Ontario), Canoe (Toronto) & most recently at 1 Michelin star Enigma (Yorkville, Ontario).
Zach now runs a small upscale reservation only 17 seat dining room he calls “Naagan” (Ojibwa for Dish) at the Owen Sound Farmers Market. Zach calls his cuisine progressive aboriginal using things from the land fusing his Ojibwa background with French techniques. Naagan serves a 9 course tasting menu paired with wild drinks using things they’ve either foraged/sourced locally/ grown.
Festival Schedule
Check out the festival schedule below!
Wednesday & Thursday
9am-4pm
- Cannon firing every 15 minutes: 9am – 2pm, then again at 3pm and 4pm (talk and demonstrations)
- Mini Militia – learn the drill of an 1812 soldier
- Canoe building – the art of birch bark canoe
- Meet the Voyageurs and the Coureur du Bois
- Learn about the important linkage with Fort St. Joe
- Indigenous Allies – drumming and sacred plants
- Women of the Era – the clothing and their roles
- A Cooper re-enactor specializing in making wood barrels and buckets.
Friday & Saturday
10am-4pm
- Cannon firing on the hour from 10am – 4pm
- Same great stations as Wednesday to Friday
- Beaver Tails food trailer 11am – 3pm
- Thinking Rock Community Arts 1pm – 4pm (Friday only)
- Hogan’s Homestead maple tasting 1pm – 3pm
- Lucia Laford – Artist in Residence (Friday afternoon)
- Chef Zach Keeshig – Famous Indigenous Chef (Saturday, ticketed event)
THE ERMATINGER CLERGUE
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
Fall Rendezvous Festival takes place on the grounds of the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site; where two of the oldest stone buildings in Ontario are Sault Ste. Marie’s only remains of the fur trade era, and home to the earliest European settlers.
Learn about the war of 1812 through interactive displays, enjoy an audio tour to help guide you through the site. There is also a gift shop filled with local artisan products and memorabilia from Sault Ste. Marie. Read more about visiting Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site here.
Thanks to our Partners!
The Fall Rendezvous Festival is hosted by the Friends of Ermatinger National Historic Site and funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and the City of Sault Ste. Marie.
