Listowel, Ontario

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Listowel, Ontario is a town located in the Municipality of North Perth, created in 1998 during the amalgamation of several other communities in the northern section of Perth County, Ontario. Population 5,476 est. 1996.

Listowel is named after the town of Listowel, Ireland, even though a majority of the early settlers were in fact Scottish and from other European countries.

Campbell's Soup has a frozen, foodservice and specialty food plant in Listowel. The surrounding area is mostly agricultural land located on the Perth Plain, dominated by the beef and pork industries.

Despite being a rather mundane industrial town Listowel has also produced many artistic talents. Bands such as Helix, Chachi On Acid, and Red Eye Jack have achieved notoriety both on national and international levels. The region is also home to many talented visual artists which are showcased annually as part of the region's Studio Tour. Theatre 311 is a very reputable venue for live theatre drawing on local talent and actors from surrounding cities. Listowel is also represented in the film industry by Dura Mater Productions, an independent film company that has received recognition by film festivals throughout North America and Europe.

Listowel has 17 churches and 8 car dealerships, and is known as "car city".

Listowel has been recognized throughout many surrounding rural communities, for several years to date (2006), as home to a thriving and especially dedicated skateboarding community. Despite continuous opposition from (relatively) conservative local, community activists over much of the last decade, Listowel skateboard enthusiasts have managed to establish and maintain one of the only, rural action-sports facilities in the region.

Listowel has a large Irish festival, called Paddyfest, which is held over the two weeks surrounding St. Patrick's day. This festival was first started in 1977 from an idea put forth by Dave Murtha to honour the large numbers of persons of Irish ancestry present in the Listowel area. Paddyfest is maintained by the Kinsmen and Kinette clubs of Listowel. The official spokesperson for Paddyfest is chosen yearly in the Paddyfest Ambassador Competition. Contestants must perform a speech, impromptu question and interview with the judges and receive the overall highest score to be awarded this position. A separate award of Talent is given out to the contestant with the highest score in the talent competition. Runner up and Congeniality are also awards which are available. Although the Paddyfest Ambassador Competition changed its name and official status from being Miss Paddyfest when first created, a male has yet to win the title. The last five Paddyfest Ambassadors are:

2006: Lindsay Hunsberger 2005: Crystal Jedrzejewski 2004: Megan Selinger 2002: Michelle Jedrzejewski