A steady rain didn’t stop a steady stream of Easter enthusiasts from heading to downtown Port Elgin on Saturday for the Business Improvement Area’s fourth annual Eggstravaganza.
The umbrellas, raincoats and rubber boots came out for this year’s event, which included face painting, pictures with the Easter Bunny, giant bubble blowing and a petting zoo on the street alongside Coulter Parkette. Families, meanwhile, made their way around the downtown, stopping in at the dozens of businesses handing out treats along the goody trail.
“Unfortunately we can’t control the weather, but we actually have had a really, really great turnout with people coming through,” said business owner and BIA executive member Melissa Good. “It is wonderful that our community is able to put stuff on like this, a free event that everyone can enjoy.
“Just getting people back into the habit of coming downtown is really important.”
Good said they hold the event as a way to attract people to the downtown, check out what the local businesses are selling and feel a sense of community together.
“It is all about community and that is what we are trying to do as the BIA,” said Good. “We want to draw people down and just get that sense of community because we feel that is sometimes missing for our kids and even ourselves.
“We get bogged down at home or with other things, and we want to get people back out on the streets and enjoying what we have to offer here.”
Kody Smart and his two-year-old son Elias get their picture taken with the Easter Bunny by mom Amanda in Coulter Parkette in Port Elgin during the Port Elgin Business Improvement Area’s Eggstravaganza Easter celebration on Saturday, April 4, 2026. Rob Gowan The Sun Times /Postmedia Network
Amanda and Kody Smart were at the event for the second straight year along with their two-year-old son Elias.
They were enjoying some pictures with the Easter Bunny, before blowing some giant bubbles and visiting some of the farm animals huddled under a tent to stay out of the rain.
Amanda said that despite the steady rain, she felt it was still important to come out and support the community and the local businesses.
“I just want to support activities happening in the community,” Amanda Smart said. “I feel like if they throw these activities and nobody comes out, they are going to stop doing them and I don’t want that to happen.”
Smart said Elias had a fantastic time at the first downtown Easter Eggstravaganza last year, and they plan to make it a yearly tradition going forward.
Families line up with their umbrellas in the rain for face painting and pictures with the Easter Bunny during the Port Elgin Business Improvement Area’s Eggstravaganza Easter celebration at Coulter Parkette on Saturday, April 4, 2026. Rob Gowan The Sun Times /Postmedia Network
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