Thank you to the Bay Observer for the article about the “Dance at the Waterfront: Celebrate the Brant Inn“ Funding Cut that occurred for 2013 and beyond by the City of Burlington.
“No dancing under the stars for Brant Inn fans” – July 2014 Bay Observer Article
The event seeked to re-connect Burlington’s Cultural heritage of the Brant Inn during the era of Big Band music & dancing in the 1940s and 50s, and brought “inter-generational” attendees from seniors to youth — grandparents, parents, children, family and friends. It was indeed disappointing that the event could no longer be supported financially by the City of Burlington, as the City transitioned away from the running of events such as this to a more administrative role primarily for event applications. This resulted in the closing of the Waterfront Office at Discovery Landing, as well as passing on the running of the Discovery Landing Information Centre Room to Spencers at the Waterfront Restaurant for Weddings and other Events.
Please note that there are some inaccuracies in the article from Ken Davy of the Burlington Historical Society. “Celebrate the Brant Inn” was initiated by the City of Burlington and not danceScape, the “private company” that he referenced — we would be pleased to connect you with City of Burlington representatives for fact checking. danceScape, along with the Burlington Historical Society were asked to be community partners to help increase awareness of the legacy of the Brant Inn.
As well, the only time that the event was not well attended was due to rain, which would have been impossible to dance outside (and for safety reasons) when this occurred. The rain plan as indicated in the article was inside the adjacent Discovery Landing Building — which has a dancing capacity of only up to 70 people because of fire regulations … although a beautiful building, this meant that we had to turn away people even when it rained. A simple search on youtube for “Brant Inn, Burlington“ will show how well attended the event was for so many years (even when it rained and the event was held indoors), including the final year when the event ran in 2012. Youtube Video Highlights from 2006 to 2012 (the final year before the budget cuts) are also available at the links below.
2021 – https://youtube.com/shorts/q-roZrAwx5c?feature=share (virtual)
2012 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sza2bruPgUw
2011 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJOo3s5PZgE
2010 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMrFPsORDMc
2009 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c44rNe8E70
2008 – http://on.fb.me/1jOuSAJ (Rain Plan!)
2007 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CtXmbbmqSQ
2006 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmhdz-q3mXQ
Summary – https://www.dancescape.com/brantinn
2012 Celebrate the Brant Inn Highlights (final year when the event ran because of City of Burlington Budget Cuts)
2011 Celebrate the Brant Inn Highlights
2010 Celebrate the Brant Inn Highlights
2009 Celebrate the Brant Inn Highlights
2008 Celebrate the Brant Inn Highlights (Rain Plan!)
Click here for Photos. We are searching for the Video Highlights and will try to post when available!
2007 Celebrate the Brant Inn Highlights
2006 Celebrate the Brant Inn Highlights (Inaugural Year)