The world’s largest street hockey festival is taking over downtown London this weekend, drawing thousands of players, families and spectators to the city core while raising money for children receiving care at Children’s Hospital. Crews spent Friday transforming one of downtown London’s busiest intersections, Wellington Street and Dufferin Avenue, into a massive street hockey venue, with boards being assembled and nets rolled into place ahead of the weekend tournament. Organizers say Hockey Fest has grown from a local initiative into a North America-wide event, partnering with NHL teams and charities across the continent. “We started Hockey Fest in 2018 to 2019; 2019 was our first year where we partnered with the Peterborough Petes and then Chicago Blackhawks,” said Myriah Kay, tournament director for Hockey Fest. “Since then, obviously we had a couple of hiccup years with COVID, but it was nice that we were an outdoor activity so people could come outside and play in our bubbles.” This year’s tournament is expected to feature about 75 teams and hundreds of players ranging from young children to adults. “We are all day Saturday, all day Sunday. We range from U7 to little kids all the way up to adult,” Kay said. “We’ll have probably around 75-ish teams, around 10 players per team.” Beyond the competition, organizers say giving back to the community is a major focus of the event. For the first time, Hockey Fest is partnering locally with Children’s Health Foundation, with a portion of team registration fees supporting programs, equipment and services at Children’s Hospital. “We have 60,000 kids that use the Children’s Hospital on a yearly basis,” said Jennifer Baxter, director of community relations and events for Children’s Health Foundation. “Imagine being one of those families and one of those kids that need to use the hospital. We want to make sure that the families and kids get the best possible care with the best possible equipment and programs.” Organizers say supporting local charities has become a key part of Hockey Fest’s growth across North America. “We ended up partnering with a couple different NHL teams and Barstool Sports for the Chicklets Cup,” Kay said. “So, we were able to go out to Las Vegas for a tournament there with them, and then also Detroit. We have the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and so forth. So, we are right across North America from one end all the way to the other.” Organizers hope the weekend event will not only bring energy to downtown London but also help support local families who rely on care at Children’s Hospital.
