Awesome recreational facility, offering hockey rinks (of course!), a gymnasium, a cafeteria, a bar,…read moreand top all this off with free wifi! Makes the patience of waiting for the hockey game to start all the more enjoyable!!

I have not been to this fair for years. I use to go here as a kid every year until I turned 18…read more I loved the rides and I loved the hot candied almonds that they served at the stand. I use to play some of the games that they had and would end up winning a small stuffed animal. I still have to win that huge Bart Simpson doll...lol. Next September, I will plan to go back and see if I run into any of my old friends from school. This place will definitely be nostalgic for me.

The Ilderton arena is famous for a variety of reasons: -…read morefigure skating The home of Danny Moir, Scott Moir (Olympic Gold medallist), and Moirs of different generations who seem to all go to Provincial, National or International skating competitions. And yes, there are figure skaters with other last names that win competitions in the skating community. Twin sister Moirs run a power-skating clinic that teaches young kids to skate (hard). - hockey This arena has seen a variety of future OHL and NHL players come through its gates. Players such as Brian Campbell, Andy McDonald, Logan Couture and Matt Read either played for or against Ilderton over the years. Ilderton is in the heart of hockey country, developing hockey players from the age they can skate into adult hockey leagues. - curling The arena is actually a twin pad with one side dedicated to curling much of the year. Several bonspiel winners have come from Ilderton over the years. - home of Ilderton Fall Fair The Fall Fair is 162 years old in 2013. It brings thousands to Ilderton over a 4 day event annually. - home of Ilderton Community Centre The community centre shares a parking lot with the Arena and the Royal Canadian Legion. This was made famous by CTV and CBC's news coverage during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Come on over and enjoy yourself in this wonderful slice of semi-rural Canada.

We recently visited the children's museum with 2 families and 4 kids. The children's museum is…read morelocated on the upper levels of the building. Parking lots are located all around the the large building (that houses the children's museum but other stores and shops as well). Parking lots do start filling up fairly quickly but there was more than enough spots. Inside the play museum, there is a free area to hang your costs with ample space. There's tons of stuff to do for kids in the children's museum. Some highlights: Stepping in, there's a giant tree house type play ground where kids can climb up and explore. There's a kid sized town that includes a fire station, dentist/medicL area, ice cream shop, school, home, grocery store, farm. There's even little apron/hats for different areas for dressing up. There's a "sand area" to give up dinosaurs, a space area up on another floor. Perhaps one of the key defining features is the huge water play area that includes a giant fountain to shoot balls up, a fishing area, Lego area to build a dam. They even provide aprons to try to reduce wet shirts on kids. There's a dry off area with hoses that shoot air. There's also an area at the back that changes from time to time - the theme this time was Winter Olympics. There are shows that occur throughout the day like a star show and a fossil show. There are places to eat, a microwave to heat up food and vending machines. Overall, a great day trip for people in the area with young kids!

We had such a great time at the London Children's Museum! It's an amazing hands-on space where kids…read morecan truly learn through play. The water play table is huge and thoughtfully designed, allowing kids to experiment, discuss, and learn basic physics concepts while having fun. The farm area is very educational -- my child loved learning about animals and how chickens lay eggs. There are also lab programs for older kids, which is a great bonus for families with children of different ages. Other highlights include the supermarket role-play area, corn factory (harvest, make, and pack corn), fossils and dinosaur sand digging, light-up puzzles, hospital, fire station, and a packaging station that teaches how factory systems work in a fun way. Everything was clean and well maintained. A big plus for parents: large, clean washrooms, plus smaller washrooms designed for older kids, which made the visit much easier. Admission is very reasonable at $15.50 per person for adults and children aged 1 and up. Overall, this is a fantastic destination for families, especially on rainy days or weekends. Highly recommend if you're visiting London, Ontario with kids!

Now that I have been to the "real" Nuit Blanche in Toronto, I feel better qualified to review…read moreLondon's "Petite" effort. I must say that I think the London Fringe does a kick-ass job at putting on this festival. Quality exhibits in a very walkable area of downtown. Downside is that it's on only till 3am. It's still new so does not have that many displays but in my opinion, there are enough for the little city of London. The festival is very enjoyable. If you have a chance to experience it, it's absolutely worth the visit.

As a new arrival to London, I was in search of cool local things to do when my sister came to visit…read moreme from the states. Luckily for us, Fanshawe Pioneer Village was having a summer agricultural fair that weekend (thanks to the Yelp events page, which is where I saw the listing!) I wasn't sure what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. The "pioneer village" is a collection of historical houses and other buildings that have been moved from their original locations to a central area, for preservation and education. They've set things up roughly as a rural village would have been. It was surprisingly cool, and would have been so even if it weren't a special festival day. They had several fully furnished historical houses, including the childhood home of Paul Peel, who (I learned) was the first Canadian painters who was a hit in Europe. You'll see a blacksmith, carpenter's, and print-making shop, as well as a couple of churches and school rooms. There's a masonic lodge, and even an old (alas, no longer operational) brewery! And because it was a special fair day, there were a handful of costumed folks around doing historical reenactments, as well as free hayrides (woo!) out to a field to see threshing demonstrations. The village is a working farm! They also hosted a square dance as part of the fair festivities, which was filled with old folks who were dressed for square dancing and obviously knew what they were doing. Intimidated by their square dancing prowess, I didn't stay. Parking is free, and admission is $7 per adult. The GPS gave me reliable directions; you have to go in past a little gate into what appears to be an official city park or recreational area to get there. If anyone in your group has mobility issues, be warned that there's a decent amount of walking, although all of the surfaces are pretty flat. I'm sure this is a place that every Londoner went to on a school field trip at some point. But it's worth a return visit as an adult, especially if you have any interest in history or historical architecture. It's cool to see so many old, preserved buildings (and a couple of more recent recreations) all in one place. Keep an eye on their event calendar - in October sometime they do some kind of battle reenactment. I'll be back for sure!

This is a great place for all ages! Really cool to see how people lived in 1800's. The staff was…read morevery informative. I wish they delivered their schpeels in character but didn't wreak the experience. Very happy we went!

If i could put zero stars i would. We made a complaint becaise my partner is in a wheelchair and he…read morecould not see over the people standing because the disabled people are put BEHIND standing room even though the price is the same. Drunk people were breaking through the barriers and knocking people in power chairs. It has been like pulling teeth with these people. they take literally months to respond then they make excuses that theist week was busy. They offered replacement tickets for a show, but didnt respond in time for us to actually catch the show we asked for over a month ago the way they treat the disabled and their ticket holders is disgraceful especially for a concert in a dirty bar where legit couldn't see.

Great venue Wonderful seats Efficient friendly service Great new renovations and easier front door…read moreentrance

Not many museums are free but this one is (by donation) and it was an easy walk to get to. When you…read moreenter, there are washrooms to the left and a gift shop in front. The gift shop has homemade jewelry, housewares and trinkets, books, and wallets. They had a cute bicycle display with various items. The front desk was staffed and the woman working told us the exhibits were upstairs. We made our way to the stairs and there's also an elevator. Once on the second floor, there were a couple of doors and then a volunteer was seating there telling us where to go. The exhibit on the left was ok, not a lot to see but a few interesting pieces. My favourite was the paint workshop with cans all coloured with paint. We went to the other side and there was an exhibit of book covers and an Aboriginal one. The book covers wasn't so interesting but the Aboriginal one had old records and cylinders that recorded conversations and songs. There were some sofas and a large window looking out to water and greenery. It was a lovely view. We spent an hour here and it was ok. They are going through some renovations but hopefully they can make better use of all the space.

Nice place to bring a small family with older kids and for a quick date getaway. It's a rather…read moresmaller museum and nice place to meet people for a quick gathering at their cafe shop. You can spend as little as 1 hour to see their collection. Smaller parking area with a small parking fee to pay at the self-standing booth to get a ticket location at the museum pathway about 20-30 feet from the front door. Give a online donation of a few dollars to support them for future work. Pleasant to visit and comfortable.

The Ilderton Fair Board year round work toward an annual event that has been going for a long time…read more In 2011 the Ilderton Fair had its 160th anniversary. The Fair is a big event over multiple days. It typically runs on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday near the end of September or beginning of October. The fair has a nice website that lists the activities that happen on the various days. That website is listed in the above information section. A non-exhaustive list of activities: o Afternoon Entertainment - local bands, talent competitors o Ambassador, Prince & Princess - the winner represents Ilderton at the CNE in Toronto o Demolition Derby - cars that smash into each other in a sort of automobile sumo wrestling match o Firemen's Breakfast - great value for your money, get bacon/ham/sausage/eggs etc served by volunteers o Midway - lots of rides of the tilt-a-whirl sort to turn your stomach in different directions o Parade - favourite of thousands of kids and kids at heart. The streets are lined by onlookers as floats created by volunteers ride through the heart of downtown Ilderton o Agricultural Exhibits - The Ilderton Agricultural Society, 4-H Club and others keep every year fresh with various displays o Animal Displays - The Horse Shows bring in competitors from around Ontario. Mutton Busting is small children riding sheep - its a must see full of laughs. The Calf Scramble is young adults attempting to wrestle/coral aggressive cows. Come on over to Ilderton. From London's downtown via automobile, take Richmond north to Oxford. Then take Oxford west until Hyde Park Road. Take Hyde Park Road about 15 minutes drive until you get to Ilderton Road. Take Ilderton Road west until you can find a place to park.