Midnight Madness packs Downtown Bolton with food, fun, and festivities

August 14, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Cars parked up and down the streets, music roaring from the Downtown strip, and families walking hand-in-hand down the sidewalk – all clear signs that Bolton’s Midnight Madness was well under way.

Midnight Madness is an annual event held in Downtown Bolton, where everyone is invited to enjoy a night of food, live music, an outdoor marketplace, multiple vendors, and endless activities.

The word “endless” truly describes this year’s Midnight Madness, as there was no shortage of fun activities for all ages.

Every few minutes, a loud bell rang through the streets, and the sound came from the crowd gathered around the Caledon Community Services (CCS) booth.

The High Striker game called on participants to summon all their strength to strike down with a sledgehammer and hopefully reach the top, where a bell would ring out and participants won a prize.

All proceeds raised from the game went to the CCS Exchange Food Bank.

Mariia Kupriianova, Chief Development Officer for CCS, said summer hunger is very real in the Caledon Community.

“Here tonight at Midnight Madness we are raising awareness of such a serious cause in a fun way, and we are going to strike hunger out,” says Kupriianova.

“As school programs spread out over the summer, hundreds of local children and their families are at risk of going hungry, they are at risk of going without. That’s when they turn to our community, to CCS for support, and we can only be there for them thanks to our wonderful community,” she shared.

Through CCS, they can support 450 local children, as one in three of their food bank clients is a child.

Kupriianova says it’s thanks to the community that they can provide the urgent relief that’s needed.

“Our children will have food in lunchboxes, and they will be able to go back to school not hungry, confident and proud,” she shared.

The original plan to raise money was through a dunk booth, but a significant water main break that occurred north of Mayfield Road on Coleraine Drive sent the community into a 72-hour mandatory water use restriction.

“We’re very sad that we had to cancel the dunk tank fundraiser. However, we stand in solidarity with our community,” shared Kupriianova. “We’re very grateful to Caledon Emergency and Fire Services, and we’re so grateful we were able to pivot fast. We didn’t make a splash at Midnight Madness this year, but we certainly will strike hunger out.”

CCS wasn’t the only group that felt the pivot of the plan.

With the original plan to dunk local Caledon Councillors to raise funds put to a halt, Bolton Councillors stepped up to aid in the new plan.

Councillor Mario Russo for Wards 4, 5, and 6 shared that, upon seeing CCS pivot and unsure if they could attract the same response, he, along with Councillors Rosa for Ward 5 and Councillor Napoli for Ward 6, wanted to kickstart the CCS fundraising and jointly donated $500 to CCS and their event.

Soon after, Scotia Bank matched their donation.

The good times continued rolling down the streets with other fundraising efforts.

The Bolton Kin Club were set up handing out free freezies, and raffling off a historical quilt to raise funds that will be donated back into the community.

They were also spreading the word about their upcoming fundraising events in September: The Toonie Sale and the Terry Fox Run.

Through their events, the Bolton Kin raise money to continue supporting the greatest needs of the community.

Joe Luschak has been with the Kin Club of Bolton for 52 years now, and shared the many reasons he loves to be a part of the club.

“I believe in what we do,” said Luschak. “I love the community, I love contributing, I love giving back, and I love being part of the camaraderie that comes with being a member. We’ve got some great, wonderful people in this club.”

As well as clubs and societies, Midnight Madness featured an outdoor marketplace, where vendors from all over gathered to showcase their businesses.

Albion Hills Farm was one of these vendors; they have been selling their products to Bolton for the past 35 years.

Albion Hills is a family-based, handcrafted, cured and smoked meat company.

They said one of their favourite parts about coming to Bolton as a vendor is the people who come and support from the community.

One of the big attractions of the night was the Kids Zone, where kids could enjoy bouncy castles, face painting, and a magic show.

Vanesa Gomez stood with her family while they waited for the magic show to begin. She said they moved to Bolton four years ago and have been coming to Midnight Madness every year.

“The kids love the kids zone and they love being able to interact with the police officers and the firefighters and just have a lot of fun. So, we do that, have an ice cream and have a good time,” she said.

Set up right beside the kids’ zone were Caledon OPP and Caledon Fire and Emergency Services.

Caledon OPP had an interactive booth for both the community and the kids.

Kids were able to climb inside the OPP cruiser, play with the controls, and then enjoy the button station, where they could craft their own buttons for their shirts.