Sarah Morris

Nominated for the ACO Public Education and Engagement Award

In 2016, Windsor resident Sarah Morris noticed that the City of Windsor had not advertised for the annual Jane’s Walk Festival, an event which they had hosted since 2009. After learning that the city no longer wished to organize and host the festival, Sarah knew that she had to take on the task of planning a city-wide walking festival.

By 2019, there were 15 walks in 7 neighbourhoods. Since that time, the festival has grown and improved each year. Windsor Jane’s Walk could have taken a real hit in 2020 when the pandemic began, but Sarah pivoted on April 3, 2020 – one month before the festival – with an ask for videos, artwork, articles, podcasts, and the enthusiastic and creative people of the City of Windsor responded. In 2021, Sarah guided the festival to a “Podcast from Home” format until it was once again safe to gather. For the 2022 festival, she collaborated with organizations in the Town of Amherstburg – some 30 minutes outside of Windsor – that were excited to be a part of what she’d built. Bolstered by the enthusiastic response from Amherstburg, Sarah agreed to expand the festival into Essex County and in 2023 what was once known as “Windsor Jane’s Walk” became “Windsor/Essex Jane’s Walk.” It is now the third largest Jane’s Walk Festival in Ontario. Sarah appears extensively in the media to promote the walks, attends each Jane’s Walk personally, in addition to hosting her own walk each year, all while maintaining a full-time job. The varied walks, 32 in 2024, encompass architecture, environment, history, art, nature, and more.

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