Major upgrades planned for Celebration Square in downtown Mississauga

Some major improvements are in the works for Mississauga’s most popular downtown entertainment venue.

Celebration Square, the nearly five-acre outdoor public gathering place that attracts some 750,000 visitors annually to numerous festivals and other large-scale events, will be outfitted with bigger and better high-resolution viewing screens and new artificial turf, city officials say.

The upgrades are scheduled for early 2026, a City of Mississauga spokesperson told INsauga.com this week.

Next spring, the turf lawn area and surrounding pavement will be closed to the public for four to six weeks while the existing artificial turf is replaced, city spokesperson Irene McCutcheon said in an email, adding “the construction window for the artificial turf replacement is being coordinated in the spring season when there are no events planned.” 

Celebration Square hosts numerous events each year, including summertime movie nights in which popular films for the entire family are shown on the big screens.

Work on the turf replacement is currently in the design phase, so the cost has yet to be determined, the city said.

In addition, McCutcheon noted, the current Mitsubishi 16mm main screens and 22mm ribbon screens are being replaced with bigger and better models. 

“This project aims to improve the resolution and size of the screens, for an improved user experience,” she said, adding final design for the new screens is underway.

Cost of the replacement screens isn’t yet known, the city said.

When Celebration Square opened in the heart of Mississauga in June 2011, it featured natural grass instead of artificial turf.

However, the health of the grass quickly deteriorated due to the large crowds and poor drainage. By 2012, the city had replaced the real grass with artificial turf, which has proven far more practical and cost-effective.

Large crowds gather at the square throughout the year, especially during summer for numerous weekly festivals, outdoor movie nights and other events.

The artificial turf at Celebration Square gets a lot of use throughout the year, especially during the summer.

The city also hosts several big-time annual events at Celebration Square, most notably New Year’s Eve and Canada Day parties, both of which include large fireworks displays in addition to other entertainment.

And whenever major sports events are taking place, be it in Canada, the U.S. or anywhere around the world, the big screens at the outdoor venue show all the action.

Soccer lovers gathered in late 2022 at the public square in Canada’s seventh-largest city to watch World Cup matches — and they’ll do so again next year — and ever-faithful Toronto Maple Leafs fans come together each spring to watch nervously as their favourite NHL team searches for playoff success.

City officials say the square, featuring a covered main stage, amphitheatre, trellised market area and greenspace, is the site of hundreds of free festivals and other gatherings each year.

In addition, they note in an online description of the venue, “visitors can relax with a book, splash in the fountain in the summer or skate during the winter months, stay connected with free Wi-Fi, grab a bite to eat or enjoy a diverse mix of activities such as concerts, movies, fitness classes and more.”

(All photos: City of Mississauga)