Brantford’s culture and history come alive with new Laurier-produced audio tours

Dec. 16, 2025
For Immediate Release

BRANTFORD - The City of Brantford invites listeners to discover local tourist attractions, historic sites and public artwork in a new series of short-form audio episodes produced in collaboration with students at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Brantford campus.

The first of 14 episodes in the Best of Brantford Audio Tour showcases the colourful history of the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts, narrated by theatre manager Glenn Brown from within the theatre itself. New episodes will be released weekly on the Discover Brantford website through February 2026.

“We are happy to share this content with our fellow community members and visitors alike and hope that it serves as a source of information and inspiration,” said Kara Davey, manager of tourism, culture and sport at the City of Brantford. “This is just a small glimpse into what makes Brantford such a special community and the passionate people who call it home.”

The audio tour initiative was the brainchild of Laurier Brantford instructor and podcaster-in-residence Avery Moore Kloss, who successfully pitched the idea to the city’s Economic Development, Tourism and Cultural Initiatives Department. Designed as a final project for a course in Laurier’s Digital Media and Journalism program, Moore Kloss’s students were assigned various locations across Brantford selected by Davey’s team. Students researched the location, conducted interviews with on-site experts and edited content into audio tours of about six minutes each, layering the expert guide’s narration with recorded sounds and music to create a truly immersive audio experience.

“We wanted listeners to be able to connect with the culture and history of our city no matter where they are,” said Moore Kloss. “These guides are designed to make you feel like you’re inside the Sanderson Centre, the Canadian Military Heritage Museum or the Bell Homestead.”

Fourth-year Digital Media and Journalism student Fabiana Penagos relished the opportunity to gain hands-on experience producing an audio guide taking listeners inside the Woodland Cultural Centre, once home to the Mohawk Institute Residential School, but found the project more meaningful than a mere portfolio piece.

“I learned so much about Woodland’s history through my site tour and interview with executive director and chief curator Heather George,” said Penagos. “It was an honour to share everything I learned in a guide that will reach a really broad audience, including the students who live and study here.”

Davey said the city is grateful for the work completed by Laurier’s students.

“Their dedication to this project, along with the content provided by the subject matter experts interviewed, is what makes each episode shine,” said Davey.

The second episode in the Best of Brantford Audio Tour series, which highlights the portrait of Walter Gretzky at the municipal golf course named in his honour, is now live.