Mississauga Celebration Square

Mississauga, ON

Public Space

Located outside of Mississauga City Hall in the downtown core, Mississauga Civic Square opened in 1987. In 2011, $40 million was spent to revitalize the space, which was reopened and rebranded as Mississauga Celebration Square.

The 6.6 acre site includes: twin Mitsubishi ‘Diamond Vision’ Screens, a state of the art main stage, 300-seat amphitheatre, market trellis/serviced vendor area, great lawn, 147 ft x 155 ft fountain/rink, Jubilee garden, raised gardens, forested garden, glass pavilion and terrace. The square support crowds of up to 50,000 people.

Celebration Square will be home to more than 100 free public events, performances, and activities per year, with an estimated attendance target of 1.4 million visitors per year by 2014.

The newly renovated Mississauga Celebration Square is host to a dynamic line-up of free year-round events and festivals that showcase eclectic arts, cultural diversity, and the spirit of the city.

• Enjoy a game of chess or ping pong. Challenge a friend to a game of cards, or bring a guitar and jam with your friends. Enjoy a fitness class, strap on your skates, or walk the dog. There's plenty of ways for you to move on the Square
• There is amazing entertainment and programming on the two giant outdoor video screens. Whether it's a movie, video, art, news, information or your favourite television program, there is something for you to watch, everyday between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm.
• Mississauga Celebration Square is conveniently located next to the Mississauga Central Library. Make the library part of your visit to the Square and enjoy a great read from the branch or the Outdoor Reading Room
• Make a splash and experience the amazing interactive water feature, which transforms into the City's biggest free outdoor skating rink between November and March. Have a seat and enjoy the cooling mist on a hot summer day, or enjoy the water show while you take in the great outdoors.
• Mississauga Celebration Square offers free WiFi access throughout the Square. Bring your wireless device and do some research, get caught up on the news, or watch some videos.
• There is plenty of space for you to take in the sites and enjoy a bite to eat in the great outdoors. You can purchase food from one of the outdoor vendors or grab some takeout from one of the great downtown eateries and restaurants in the area.
• Mississauga Celebration Square is also home to a number of seasonal outdoor markets throughout the year.

From the intense involvement of more than 1,500 Mississauga citizens in several rounds of community workshops and visioning sessions, it was clear everyone wanted their new Square to become the heart of the city — a place full of events that gives people a reason to come enjoy their downtown.

Just months after the initial workshops, citizens and local organizations came together to undertake a series of experiments and short-term actions (that we now call “Lighter, Quicker Cheaper” strategies) to implement many of the ideas that the community came up with. They created an ambitious summer schedule of programs and events that ranged from Farmers’ markets to Vintage Car Club Thursdays — and put public seating and tables out in the square right away.

Today, 7 residents and 4 City Councillors form the Mississauga Celebration Square Events Committee.

This is an advisory committee of Council which makes recommendations to Council on matters relating to the events on the Mississauga Celebration Square

Celebration Square is the heart of downtown and is the "great meeting space" for the citizens of Mississauga. It is a place to celebrate major events like Canada Day and New Year’s Eve, yet comfortable for everyday activities such as reading, playing, and eating. The scale of the Square has the feel of a grand European plaza, but functions equally as a versatile friendly space for all.

Celebration Square was one of the City's Infrastructure Stimulus Funded projects. It connected the old Civic Square and the Central Library Square into a dynamic space, employing a common palette of simple elements and materials; plantings, lighting, paving, steel structures, and furnishing.

Individual spaces were inserted or redeveloped around this large space, to create a framework for diverse activities and events. A new stage, media wall, raised gardens, enlarged lawn, skating rink/fountain, and an elevator to the parking garage to name a few have all contributed into created a large space that is coherent and contiguous civic space that can support a variety of events, bringing the community together