Black Gold Fest happening Saturday at Oil Springs museum

Black Gold Fest, featuring free admission to Canada’s national oil museum, along with live music, and historical demonstrations, is back Saturday. The annual showcase of local oil history at the National Historic Site – home to the first commercial oil well in North America in the mid-1800s and where oil continues to be pumped from [...]

Article content Black Gold Fest, featuring free admission to Canada’s national oil museum, along with live music, and historical demonstrations, is back Saturday. The annual showcase of local oil history at the National Historic Site – home to the first commercial oil well in North America in the mid-1800s and where oil continues to be pumped from the ground today – first started in 2012. Recommended Videos This year’s includes the return of hands-on activities and demonstrations like rope making, blacksmithing and wool spinning, as well as some new additions, said the museum’s Jessica Stevenson.

Those include wagon rides alongside the adjacent oil fields, she said, inspired by rides between the museum and Oil Springs during the village’s 160th anniversary celebrations in 2025. Historical interpreter Doug Robinson is also back with a new show this year, Stevenson said. “He’s going to be kind of an international driller and talk about some of those stories.”

Lambton oil drillers travelled abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, sharing expertise with oil operations around the world. “Black Gold Fest celebrates the people and traditions that helped build Canada’s oil industry and put Oil Springs and Lambton County on the world map,” Stevenson said. “Through hands-on activities and demonstrations, visitors can explore and experience these skills for themselves.”

It’s also a chance for people to learn about the museum and local oil heritage, she said. About 500 people turned out to Black Gold Fest in 2025, up slightly because of the event happening in tandem with the village’s anniversary celebrations, Stevenson said. Hopes are a Summer Fun Fest Party at the Oil Springs Youth Centre from noon to midnight Saturday also helps draw crowds to the museum, she said.

“They’re two separate events but we do enjoy working with the village,” she said. Hopes are “people can come out and just get to see the Oil Springs area,” she said. Black Gold Fest runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the 2423 Kelly Rd. museum in Oil Springs.

Details are at oilmuseum.ca