History of the Festival

In the fall of 2000 local Drama and History teacher, DJ Carroll, was walking through Gibson Park and as the sun hit the trees he had a spark of creativity….he saw Sherwood Forest there in front of him.  A fan of the Robin Hood legend (and Thesis paper topic) he immediately wanted to bring the story to life; to combine his passion of history and theatre; and provide an educational and fun family event.  

Although this event started as a school and community partnership it soon grew beyond what could be done within just a school environment.  So in 2008 Robin in the Hood became a fully non-for profit group with a board of directors, a full planning committee and a community event run with a partnership with the school.  This new format allowed the festival to grow into an event that had a cast and volunteers of almost 200 people, host 1100 grade 4 students during our education day event and sees over 1500 people coming to the event day.  

In all the years of the festival we have had over 22000 students go through our education programs and events and they have come not only from local schools but as far away as London On.  Our festival day has had audience come from as far off as Quebec.  As we go into our next 20 years we are looking forward to creating a whole new set of fun for the family!