Siege of Fort Erie re-enactment returns August 8 and 9
July 28, 2026 at 5:15 AM
Niagara Parks will stage its annual Siege of Fort Erie re-enactment at Old Fort Erie on August 8 and 9, with re-enactors from across North America fighting on the grounds of the 1814 battlefield.
Battle re-enactments, camp activities and weapons demonstrations are free to watch. Admission is required to enter the fort itself, and the Saturday night lantern tour requires a separate ticket.
Old Fort Erie will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The lantern tour departs at 9 p.m. Saturday, after a re-enactment of Drummond’s Night Assault. The lantern-lit tour takes visitors through the fort as it would have looked in the aftermath of the attack. Visitors will watch interrogations, hear musket and cannon fire and take part in the action.
The assault it recreates happened on the night of August 15, 1814. Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond sent three British columns against the American garrison holding the fort. One column fought its way into the northeast bastion. A powder magazine beneath the bastion then exploded and killed between 150 and 250 men, most of them British and Canadian soldiers.
British losses that night included 222 killed, 309 wounded and 360 captured. The American garrison counted 17 killed, 56 wounded and 11 missing. Niagara Parks has described the site as Canada’s bloodiest battlefield.
Drummond held his siege lines until September 21, 1814, when his weakened force withdrew to the Chippawa River. The Americans kept the fort until November, then demolished it and crossed back over the Niagara River.
Guided tours of Old Fort Erie will depart every hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days. Niagara Parks will also offer children’s programming each day.
Admission to the fort costs $15 plus tax for adults, $13 plus tax for youth aged 18 to 24 and $9.50 plus tax for children aged 3 to 17.
Free parking is available at the parkettes along Lakeshore Road near Beatrice Street. A free shuttle will carry visitors from the parkettes to the Old Fort Erie welcome centre every 15 minutes.
The full weekend schedule and ticket booking are posted at niagaraparks.com/siege.
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Andrew Hawlitzky
Andrew is a Niagara community journalist who has covered everything from local politics to annual festivals and breaking news. He works to make local news a platform where community voices lead the conversation. "If you don't like the news, go out and make some!"
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