Norfolk County's primary tourist attractions are the ports, towns and villages along Lake Erie, which the municipality promotes as ''Ontario's Garden''. These towns include Port Dover, Turkey Point and Long Point. Fishing is another key attraction for tourist, as well as birding, hiking, camping and cycling. Main festivals include the Norfolk County Fair & Horse Show (October), Waterford Pumpkin Festival (October), the
Friday the 13th motorcycle rally at Port Dover, and Simcoe Christmas Panorama (December). Agri-tourism is another expanding attraction for tourists coming to Norfolk County, with a few wineries in development and numerous farmgate retailers. Wilsonville’s Whistling Gardens, in the northeast Norfolk County, is Ontario’s newest publicly accessible botanical garden and one of the few that are privately run in Canada. In 2014, it was named one of Norfolk’s Top 10 Amazing Places on a social mapping tool created by Ontario’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserves.
Culture The Norfolk County Public Library has branches in Delhi, Port Dover, Port Rowan, Simcoe and Waterford. The Simcoe branch, an Ontario Historic Site, was created in 1884 on Peel Street after a mechanics' institute was closed and its property donated for the creation of a free public library. The original building was used until 1912, when it was replaced with a new library building constructed as one of the
Carnegie libraries. The Lighthouse Festival Theatre Company has produced live theatre at Port Dover's old town hall (under the clock tower) since 1981. The Theatre is open year-round and provides a variety of events, including concerts, public meetings, community fund raisers, dance recitals, workshops, band rehearsals and classes. Annually, more than 36000 people now attend events at Lighthouse Theatre. Waterford's Old Town Hall is home to many local theatre productions. This restored historic building, built in 1902, includes an auditorium with stage, seating for 180, and provides cultural diversity to the community in its capacity as a venue for musical, artistic and theatrical productions, a meeting hall and rental facility. More recently, the South Coast Jazz festival has attracted thousands of visitors to the region, featuring since its 2014 inception such artists as Holly Cole, David Sanborn, Oakland Stroke, and Toronto's Shuffle Demons.
Museums Port Dover Harbour Museum The Port Dover Harbour Museum, housed in an original fisherman's net shanty, commemorates Port Dover's fishing industry. The galleries present exhibits on the days of commercial sail as well as Lake Erie shipwrecks, ship building, Long Point, the
War of 1812 and other aspects of lakeside life in this community. The museum is also active in the preservation and presentation of local folklore and living traditions, particularly in the areas of fishing and lakeside history. Since 2002, the museum has been the home to a collection of artifacts from the 1852 wreck of the steamer Atlantic. One notable exhibit commemorated the bicentennial of the burning of Dover Mills, a hamlet burned to the ground by American soldiers in 1814. The Town of Port Dover was later established when the harbour at the mouth of the Lynn River was dredged.
Waterford Heritage & Agricultural Museum The Waterford Heritage & Agricultural Museum is located in Waterford's best known industrial landmarks "The Pickle Factory". The museum exhibits the social, industrial, and agricultural history of the area through the use of interactive and engaging exhibits.
Norfolk County Archives at Eva Brook Donly Museum The Eva Brook Donly Museum is a Victorian-period
historic house museum that has been featuring displays of local history since it first opened in 1946. Located in downtown Simcoe and operated by Norfolk County, the museum is renowned for its collections of artwork by the late William Edgar Cantelon and Eva Brook Donly. Here, you can see Dr. Troyer's infamous witch trap, Abigail Becker's gold medal presented to her for having rescued stranded sailors in 1854, an original Van Norman stove and much more. The museum also has an extensive archival collection of local genealogical historical material, including photographs, diaries, wills, legal papers, obituaries, maps and more. The archival collection is now a part of Norfolk County Archives. Norfolk County established their municipal archives there in 2018 and the collection has grown to include the corporate records for the County, including Council meeting minutes, by-laws, assessment rolls, vital statistics and other County administrative records.
Teeterville Pioneer Museum The Teeterville Pioneer Museum is a museum devoted to
pioneer life in the 19th century. It includes antique
farm equipment as well as
home and
garden tools.
Delhi Tobacco Museum and Heritage Centre The Delhi Tobacco Museum and Heritage Centre displays the
agricultural and cultural history of the former
township. Despite a province-wide smoking ban, the museum still guarantees its patrons the benefits of viewing the artistry and science of tobacco farming during the
Golden Years of growing
tobacco. It is located near Quances Dam. There is also a park nearby that is enjoyed by the local residents for
picnics,
barbecues, and for walking around with. It is closed on Sundays and major holidays.
Backus Mill Heritage and Conservation Centre The
Backus Mill Heritage and Conservation Centre, an
open-air museum featuring a historic
grist mill and a
nature center, is a
National Historic Site.
Norfolk Arts Centre at Lynnwood National Historic Site Housed in the
Lynnwood National Historic Site, the
Norfolk Arts Centre is Norfolk County’s public art gallery. The Norfolk Arts Centre has regularly changing exhibits featuring local and regional artists, diverse arts programs and special events.
Festivities Port Dover is the location of a biker rally which takes place every
Friday the 13th. Simcoe is well-known for annual community events including the Lynn River Music and Arts Festival, as well as the Simcoe Panorama. Port Rowan also hosts an annual Bayfest. The Norfolk County Fairgrounds are home to the Norfolk Wildlife and Adventure Show, Eat & Drink Norfolk and the
Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show, Canada's largest County Fair, that is held every Thanksgiving weekend in October. In addition to traditional agricultural and arts competitions, it features major
grandstand shows that include Demo Derbys, Monster Trucks, Tractor Pulls and sold out concerts with artists
Big n Rich,
Barenaked Ladies,
Burton Cummings,
Dallas Smith and
Carly Rae Jepsen. Every October, Waterford hosts a Pumpkin Festival close to the end of the month. The Waterford Lions and Lioness clubs have been organizing the event since 2009. Due to low funding, the fireworks are no longer an event at the Waterford Pumpkin Festival. The usual features of the Pumpkin Festival are a pyramid of 1500 pumpkins, decorated buildings, craft shows, an automobile show, a carnival, live entertainment, and the locally famous Pumpkinbowl football game at
Waterford District High School. The Donnybrook Fair in Walsh is an annual two-day event. The fair has been held every year from 1857 until the present, making 2007 the 150th Fair. This mid-September event involves the children of
Walsh Public School and
St. Michael's School entering projects and many agricultural commodities, grown locally, for prize money and ribbons. More than $1200 was paid to the elementary children in 2006. The fair has grown every year with the help of many volunteers. Fundraising events are held all year to finance the fair. These events include an annual barbecue dance, a
Victoria Day brunch, food booths at every "Friday the 13th" event in Port Dover, and numerous raffles. The most popular event at each fair is the
demolition derby. These were sponsored for a long time by the Horsepower Unlimited Car Club from Simcoe but are now sponsored by the Vittoria & St. Williams Fire Department Auxiliaries. 2007 was considered to be the 34th consecutive year of the demolition derbies. Throughout the year, the fairgrounds and the Community Centre Hall are frequently used for weddings, funerals, and buck and doe events. The name "Donnybrook Fair" comes from an early settler of Walsh, who said the fair reminded him of an annual horse fair in
Donnybrook, Dublin,
Ireland.
Gentlemen of the Road In August 2013,
Mumford & Sons hosted a 4-day stopover of their travelling music festival, called Gentlemen of the Road, in Norfolk County. It took place in the Norfolk County Fairgrounds, and was called the Gentlemen of the Road
Simcoe Stopover. 35,000 festival-goers attended the festival, as well as many out-of-town resources for the event production. The aim of this tour was to be an economic stimulus for small towns in various parts of the world, where their festival stopovers occurred. The band encouraged festival goers to spend their money locally at each stopover.
Simcoe and Norfolk were no different, where the tour was estimated to attract as much as $10 million in
tourism revenues.
Boating Norfolk County is also known for its attraction to boaters and fishers. The small village in Norfolk County, Turkey Point, is known for having the largest freshwater marina in Canada, MacDonald Turkey Point Marina. All summer long, thousands travel from Turkey Point to Pottahawk Point to party. A thriving boating scene can be found in Port Rowan; where alcoholic beverages can frequently be found on the docks and consumed by boaters over the age of majority. They must be purchased inland either through a local bar or through the government-owned beer store. ==Sports==