Meet Barrie's Fun Side
Barrie offers you more time to spend outdoors, with family and friends, pursuing your passions, and having fun. The city is surrounded by lakes, parks, forests and ski hills with easy access to the GTA and cottage country. Barrie has a thriving arts and culture scene, unique restaurants, and family-friendly festivals and events year-round.
Arts & Culture
Big city culture in a tight-knit creative community. Check out our museums, galleries, theatre performances, and live music scene. We even have our own film festival.
Downtown Barrie
Our city centre is alive with unique shopping, dining, arts and culture activities, year-round events, and cultural industries - all with a waterfront view. Revitalization and development plans continue to transform the heart of our city.
Parks & Open Space
Barrie offers 121 public parks throughout the city. Come and enjoy over 740 acres of park space.
Waterfront
Enjoy 5 km of public space, with parks, beaches, trails, and various recreation and fitness activities along Lake Simcoe’s beautiful Kempenfelt Bay. Often called “the other Great Lake”, Lake Simcoe is the largest lake on the Trent-Severn waterway.
Urban Amenities
Barrie has all the conveniences of a big city – shopping malls, big box stores, boutique shops, theatres, museums, night life, and fine dining, and a transit system to get you there.
Year-round Activities
Name your activity - you can probably do it in Barrie or nearby. Recreation opportunities include downhill and cross-country skiing, road and mountain biking, hiking, sailing, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, rowing, plus the traditional sports you’d expect to find in a city.
Festivals & Events
Festivals and special events add to the quality of life we enjoy in Barrie, enhancing and celebrating our culture and showcasing our beautiful waterfront and downtown core.
