After careful consideration, the Freedom Marching Project team has made the difficult decision to postpone Momma’s Cookout & Music Festival until 2027.
Earlier this year, the festival had secured its date and location at Carl Zehr Square in Downtown Kitchener, and planning for the 2026 event was already underway.
On March 2, 2026, we were informed by the City that they had been presented with an opportunity to host a large-scale national event in the downtown core on the same day and within close proximity to the Cookout.
Since that time, our team has been meeting internally as a committee and with the City to explore potential options, including alternative dates, locations, and operational adjustments.
While we appreciate the efforts made to identify possible solutions, the options presented did not align with our organization’s capacity, planning timelines, or the experience we aim to deliver.
As those conversations developed, it became clear that hosting both events on the same day and within close proximity would result in a direct overlap in audience, vendors, and performers.
Given the scale of the other event and the level of investment behind it, this would have created a situation where a community-led festival like the Cookout would be required to compete for audience attention and foot traffic.
For our festival, vendor success is closely tied to attendance. Reduced foot traffic would directly impact the ability for vendors — many of whom are small businesses — to generate meaningful revenue.
Situations like this can unintentionally create collateral impacts for community-led festivals and the small businesses that support them.
We also carefully reviewed the alternative dates provided. However, shifting the festival would have required a full relaunch of vendor outreach, artist bookings, and marketing efforts, which was not feasible within our current capacity or timeline.
Because our goal has always been to put our community and vendors first, we felt it would be unfair to move forward knowing these conditions could impact their ability to succeed.
While this was not an easy decision, postponing the festival allows us to protect the integrity of the experience we have worked hard to build and ensures that when the Cookout returns, it can be fully realized by the community.
The Cookout has always been about community, culture, and creating space for people to gather. That commitment remains unchanged.
While the full festival will pause this year, the Freedom Marching Project team will be taking a moment to regroup and explore opportunities for smaller community activations in honor of the Cookout throughout 2026.
One event that will still move forward is our “Let’s Take It Back” show on April 10, 2026 at Room 47 in Uptown Waterloo, which had already been planned and promoted prior to this announcement. We look forward to bringing the community together through this event and continuing to celebrate the music and culture that make the Cookout special.
If you would like to support Freedom Marching Project during this time, we invite you to come out and enjoy the show.
Tickets are available now — link in bio
We are grateful for the continued support of our artists, vendors, partners, and community members, and we look forward to bringing Momma’s Cookout & Music Festival back in 2027.
