The 2026 Carrousel of the Nations has come to a close — and organizers are already looking ahead to next year after what appears to have been another record-setting celebration of culture across Windsor and Essex County. “You had performers showcasing local talent, the youth involved, tons of people here enjoying it. You almost want it to go on every weekend, to be honest with you,” said Fred Francis, executive director of the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County. The annual festival brought together 42 cultural villages across Windsor and Essex County over two weekends, giving visitors an opportunity to experience food, music, dance and traditions from around the world. Final estimates released Sunday put attendance at approximately 226,500 visits across all 42 villages. Organizers also reported more than 2.2 million social media engagements during this year’s festival. Even before the final day festivities had wrapped up, Francis was already looking ahead. Asked Sunday when preparations for the 2027 Carrousel would begin, he said the work starts the very next day. Francis said the post-festival process includes feedback forms from each village, meetings with Carrousel representatives and discussions about what worked well, what challenges emerged and how the event can continue to grow. “We just want to listen, we want to see what we could do, what worked, what didn’t work, and what maybe we could do different next year to make it better,” he said. Part of that planning also involves evaluating applications from prospective new villages, which are typically submitted early in the Carrousel year. Francis said organizers often introduce new villages gradually, allowing them to experience the event before taking on a larger commitment in future years. “We like bringing on new villages as one-day villages, just so they could experience Carrousel,” he said. The approach, he said, helps first-time participants understand the scale of the event and the crowds it can attract. “A lot of the first-time villages, they run out of food. They don’t prepare as much as they think they should, because they just don’t anticipate the numbers of people,” Francis said. That experience often shapes how villages plan for future years. “Experience is very, very important for Carrousel villages. You can’t prepare for it until you experience it,” Francis said. For now, organizers are celebrating another successful year before turning their full attention to next summer’s festival. “It’s also nice to have a very successful weekend and then kind of debrief afterwards, see how we can make it better next year,” Francis said.
