Published Jan 31, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
![\"Rutherford](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0203-ow-willie-fest1-e1769898916331.jpg\")
From left, siblings Lorelai, 8, Kyler, 4, and Amelia Rutherford, 10, of Listowel show off their Willie face paint while enjoying some outdoor fun at the Wiarton Willie Festival in Bluewater Park in Wiarton on Saturday, January 31, 2026. Photo by Rob Gowan The Sun Times \/Postmedia NetworkArticle content<\/p>\n
Winter may have had it\u2019s icy grip on Wiarton this weekend, but that couldn\u2019t stop Mallory Beach\u2019s Marie Rutherford from taking her grandkids down to Bluwater Park for some outdoor fun at the 70th annual Wiarton Willie Festival.<\/p>\n
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The temperature outside was sitting at around \u201313 degrees Celcius and feeling like \u201320 C with the windchill, but Kyler, 4, Lorelai, 8, and Amelia, 10, didn\u2019t seem fazed one bit as they slipped and slid around a mini hockey rink on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are outdoor people and they like to be outdoors as well, tobogganning and snowshoeing, so this is a chance to get out,\u201d Marie said as she watched her three grandkids from Listowel play nearby. \u201cIt really isn\u2019t that bad out today. Compared to what it has been like, it is actually pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The snowy weather of the past couple of weeks actually let up for a time on Saturday, with some patches of blue sky and sunshine peeking through the clouds and shining down on the dozens of people who came out to the park.<\/p>\n
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Rutherford bought a cottage at Mallory Beach back in 2014, and retired and moved up from the Wingham area permanently about two years ago.<\/p>\n
She said she has enjoyed bringing her grandkids down to the festival the past two years since her retirement. It was something she had always talked about attending, but February never worked as a time to visit from the farm near Wingham. Now, being just up the road, it\u2019s a no-brainer.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that we are up here, we gotta go,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy would you not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rutherford said living so close to the famous weather-prognosticating groundhog Wiarton Willie is special. They have always followed along to find out his prediction each Feb. 2, and the kids learn about Willie at school in Listowel.<\/p>\n
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Amelia said she was having a lot of fun at the festival. She took a train ride, got her face painted like Wiarton Willie and tried out a few other activities.<\/p>\n
She was looking forward to Monday morning when Willie predicts whether there will be six more weeks of winter or an early spring. She was hopeful the groundhog wouldn\u2019t see his shadow, signalling an early spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really like the snow. I do like the skating part,\u201d Amelia said. \u201cI love to swim.\u201d<\/p>\n
It will be a little while before she gets back into Colpoy\u2019s Bay, which was iced over as far as the eye could see on Saturday. Still, dozens of people mulled around Bluewater Park and took part in the fun. There were inflatable mazes, rock climbing, axe throwing, horse-drawn wagon rides, along with the mini hockey, a fun photo booth and a pair of trackless trains.<\/p>\n
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![\"Boy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0203-ow-willie-fest2-e1769899021602.jpg\")
Twenty-month-old Maddex Denning is all bundled up from the cold as he waits for the trackless train tour around Bluewater Park to get going during the Wiarton Willie Festival in Wiarton on Saturday, January 31, 2026. Photo by Rob Gowan The Sun Times \/Postmedia Network<\/p>\n
Troy and Shannon Denning brought their 22-month-old son Maddex down to the park, the second year he has taken in the fun. Maddex was bundled up all cozy as the family enjoyed a train ride along a path that had been cleared through the snow.<\/p>\n
Troy Denning said they moved to the area for work from Orangeville about three years and have enjoyed coming to the festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cKind of the end all, be all thing for the town is the Wiarton Willie Festival,\u201d Denning said. \u201cWe have been doing it every year, it is our little guy\u2019s second year doing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously the town throws some investment at this and we want to come out and show our appreciation that they are doing all this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denning said they had visited the area in the past, and were familiar with Wiarton Willie and his predictions, but hadn\u2019t experienced the festival before moving nearby. Now that they live in the town, \u201cwe gotta get right into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is fantastic. Personally I feel like every year gets better and better and better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t just outdoor activities that are part of the festival, which kicked off on Thursday with the Willie Winter Warm Up Party at the propeller club, and continued Friday with an Owen Sound Attack public skate at the arena, homecoming casino night at the propeller club and karaoke at the legion.<\/p>\n
Saturday there was a pancake breakfast at St. John\u2019s United Church, a craft and vendor market at the propeller club, a band session at the legion, a curling bonspiel and a hockey tournament.<\/p>\n
At the Cedar Lodge not far from Bluewater Park, local masons were welcoming in hungry festivalgoers for their Masonic Lodge Cheap Chili Chowdown, where they served up meat, veggie and mild chili for just $5 a bowl. It is the 22nd year the local lodge has held their chili lunch.<\/p>\n
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Masons, from left, Brad Burnett, John Stewart and Steve Silk were serving up chili to their guests at Cedar Lodge\u2019s Masonic Temple Cheap Chili Chowdown at the Wiarton Willie Festival in Wiarton on Saturday, January 31, 2026. Photo by Rob Gowan The Sun Times \/Postmedia Network<\/p>\n
Worshipful Master Brad Burnett said they put on the lunch as a way to reach out to the community and to pay them back for their support over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cFive dollars for a bowl of chili is pretty cheap, but we are out here for the fellowship, where hopefully people can enjoy the time and come in and warm up.\u201d Burnett said. \u201cWe really enjoy being part of the Willie Festival. It is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fun was to continue on Saturday evening with a pair of dances. The Fat Tony Band was playing at the Wiarton Arena, while the Lions Club Wiarton Willie Dance featured Midnight Blue at the propeller club.<\/p>\n
The Groundhog Hockey Tournament finals were set to go Sunday, with the women\u2019s final at 3 p.m., followed by the men\u2019s final. The Wiarton Legion was to hold a social afternoon starting at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n
The main event is slated for Groundhog Day on Monday. It starts with Wake Up Willie Fireworks at Bluewater Park at 7 a.m., followed by Willie\u2019s prediction at 8:07 a.m. sharp at 370 William Street, the future town hall site. A free skate celebrating the prediction runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the arena.<\/p>\n
![\"rock](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0203-ow-willie-fest3-e1769898985856.jpg\")
Petra Younghusband, 6, climbs the rock wall while enjoying the outdoor fun at the Wiarton Willie Festival in Bluewater Park in Wiarton on Saturday, January 31, 2026. Photo by Rob Gowan The Sun Times \/Postmedia Network<\/p>\n