Welcome

This is where our journey begins. Get to know our magazine and what we do, and how we're committed to quality and great service. Join us as we grow and succeed together. We're glad you're here to be a part of our story.

WE ARE BACK!

After a nearly 30-year pause, Homegrown Niagara Magazine Arts and Culture magazine is back for good. Like the issues in the 1990s, it will be FREE and feature local poetry, short stories, art, photography, recipes and features from Niagara on both sides of the border. The next print issue, with a circulation of 10,000, will hit the streets in May of 2025. It will be supported solely through retail advertising, never ever depending on government grants. Any net profit will be driven back into the magazine in the form of increased page count, frequency and circulation. The magazine will be printed twice-yearly -- Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter -- with the ultimate goal of going quarterly. We are excited to see your submissions!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Blair Burgess (Dad) & Patrick Burgess (Son)

Publishers/Editors

HISTORY OF THE MAGAZINE

The idea came into my head while mowing a lawn in Riverport, Nova Scotia, in the summer of 1984. What the South Shore of Nova Scotia needed was an arts and culture magazine, I thought, and so Southshore Homegrown Arts and Entertainment Review debuted as a tabloid in the spring of 1985. While working for a living, I kept it going as a hobby till 1987, when I moved back to Ontario to finish my schooling.

I decided to launch Homegrown Niagara Magazine, a pony tab, in the summer of 1994, again while working full time. It lasted till the end of 1997 when I was simply too busy with work and family to continue on. I knew I'd get it going again, but I didn't think it would be 28 years and a lifetime later. It was unfinished business that nagged and nagged at me.

So here we are, on the cusp of launching the Spring/Summer 2025 print edition only three months from now. In the meantime, we're going to feature submissions immediately on this Web page. The print edition, with a circulation of 10,000, will be a Best Of version on what's submitted between now and May.

This time, my son Patrick is along for the ride, acting as co-publisher and editor. We'll both be working full-time, but we're committed to keeping this magazine going in perpetuity.

We are excited!

Blair Burgess, St. Catharines, Ont., January 2025