Sarnia's reinvented Weekend Walkabouts went extremely well this summer, according to the head of the local Chamber of Commerce.
CEO Carrie McEachran said all three were very successful thanks to the downtown businesses that jumped on board to help out.
"Businesses that we talked to let us know that the Weekend Walkabouts brought many people into their businesses both on First Fridays and the Saturdays, so nothing but great feedback was received."
In June, Sarnia council supported the idea behind changes to the Walkabouts. They included hosting the gatherings once a month, instead of every weekend, and planning them alongside other events. At the time, the Summer Walkabout Planning Committee told city council that a lot of lessons were learned from the events in 2020 and 2021.
McEachran said they haven't received any complaints about this year's Walkabouts.
"We haven't had a chance to really sit down and talk about lessons learned, and there's always lessons learned with these types of things, but all in all, I know that there is a lot of interest to continue doing this next year with the downtown committee," she said. "And it's been just such a great experience seeing these businesses all come together to bring the community back downtown after a crazy two years."
McEachran said the committee believes between 2,000 to 3,000 people attended each weekend.
The First Friday and Weekend Walkabout events closed Christina Street between George Street and Davis Street between Friday and Sunday evening.
With files from Josh Boyce
