‘Doors Open Brandon’ a Unique Mix of Architecture, Culture & Nature

Brandon, MB – The City of Brandon and the Brandon Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee, along with their many event sponsors, invite all members of the public to attend the 17th annual Doors Open Brandon weekend July 20th to 22nd for a unique chance to travel back in time and immerse themselves in the community’s architectural, cultural and nature-based beginnings.

This year’s Doors Open Brandon weekend event offers a mix of FREE self-guided and guided walking heritage tours, featuring a total of 18 heritage properties, five local museums, two City of Brandon civic buildings and the Brandon’s Indigenous Peoples Site at the A.R McDiarmid Civic Complex. Returning for another year is local historian David McConkey’s popular walking tour, this time offering a guided journey through the Brandon Municipal Cemetery, which, in the final year of the First World War centenary, will seek to remember those caught in the conflict. Coming on board this year to offer a new guided walking tour is naturalist David Barnes, who will take participants on a nature history walk through the Assiniboine Food Forest Inc., a natural area in Brandon’s east end which includes a pond/wetland and spring-fed creek, an ancient oak wooded area, AFFI’s community orchard, a prairie wildflower garden, and a working sugar bush.

A full list of Doors Open Brandon tour locations and participant details can be found on the Heritage Brandon website at http://www.heritagebrandon.ca/doors-open. Self-guided tours can be taken at participating locations from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on both days, while participants of the civic building tours and the above mentioned pair of guided walking tours will want to take note of listed tour times and attendance requirements.

“As always, our Doors Open Brandon event aims to offers something for everyone, ranging from a ‘go-at-your-own-pace’ list of historical properties to visit, to a more structured schedule of programmed tours,” notes City of Brandon Heritage Marketing Coordinator Shelby Nohr. “We invite all members of the public to take the opportunity offered to discover these buildings and historical sites, which are just as vibrant and valued today as they were when they first came into being.”

Nohr adds that interested history buffs will not want to miss the Doors Open Brandon kick-off event, which is set to take place on Friday, July 20th beginning at 6 p.m. at the A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex, located at 638 Princess Avenue.

“In addition to a double documentary screening by local archivist and documentary producer Tom Mitchell, we are pleased to be hosting the premiere of Brandon musician Brent White’s original song, ‘Snow Train 1916’, which he was inspired to write after attending a previous Doors Open Brandon event. This will be a ‘don’t-miss’ evening, so we hope everyone will help us kick things off on Friday and then take in all that the Doors Open Brandon weekend has to offer,” concludes Nohr.

Complete Doors Open Brandon information is now available on the Heritage Brandon website, though individuals may also pick up a complimentary paper passport booklet at Brandon City Hall (410-9th Street), the Riverbank Discovery Centre (545 Conservation Drive), or at Heritage Co-op (1035 Richmond Avenue).

Meanwhile, individuals interested in learning more about 2018’s Open Garden Tours – which have been scheduled for their own weekend this year on July 14th & 15th – may contact the City of Brandon’s Community Development Section by calling 204-729-2257 or by emailing k.macdonald@brandon.ca.