King's Baton Relay will pass through Burlington on May 6th and pause to include local participation

By Gazette Staff

April 8th, 2026

BURLINGTON, ON

King Charles placed his Message to the Commonwealth into the first Baton, passing it to the first Batonbearer, Sir Chris Hoy, to start the relay with 500 days to go to the Opening Ceremony of Glasgow 2026.

The King’s Baton Relay is a tradition that celebrates, connects and excites communities from across the Commonwealth during the build-up to the 2026 Commonwealth Games that will take place in Glasgow. The journey to Glasgow 2026 will take 500 days and reach every corner of the Commonwealth and include 74 countries.

It will pause in Burlington on May 6th, 2026 for a short ceremony at the Gazebo in Spencer Smith Park.

The King’s Baton Relay began at Buckingham Palace on Commonwealth Day, Monday 10 March 2025, when His Majesty The King placed His Message to the Commonwealth that will be carried as part of the Relay into the first Baton.

For the first time ever, every Commonwealth nation and territory will receive its own Baton for its celebrations. The Canadian Baton is being  crafted by an indigenous artist who will customize and decorate it to represent our culture. The Baton will be ready in a few weeks. Every commonwealth country sends a Baton to Glasgow.  The Canadian Baton will be part of that reception on May 6th.

All 74 batons will be reunited at the Opening Ceremony of the Glasgow Games in 2026, where the final Baton will be presented to His Majesty and the Message read aloud to declare the Games open.

For the first time as part of The King’s Baton Relay, Commonwealth Sport is partnering with the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) to deliver the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Plastics Campaign – bringing much-needed attention to both ongoing ocean conservation efforts and interesting new solutions to plastic waste

King Charles placed his Message to the Commonwealth into the first Baton, passing it to the first Baton bearer, Sir Chris Hoy, on Commonwealth Day 2025 to start the relay with 500 days to go to the Opening Ceremony of the Glasgow 2026 Games.

The campaign’s aim is for athletes and communities to come together to prevent one million pieces of plastic from entering Commonwealth waters and spark lasting change in how we view plastic pollution, with this global relay of plastic clean-ups journeying through every Commonwealth nation and territory as part of The King’s Baton Relay

While the Burlington part of the event will be short, several groups within the community will take part.

Lou Frapporti, the lead member of the local organizing team, has gone well beyond what most communities are doing to make this event fun and exciting at the local level.  He adds: “The Burlington stop of the King’s Baton Relay is an opportunity not only to celebrate an important international sporting tradition, but to tell a distinctly local story, one rooted in youth, community pride, environmental action and the legacy of Bobby Robinson. Burlington has a remarkable connection to the founding spirit of the Commonwealth Games, and this event gives us the chance to bring that home.

We will have much more for you as the date, May 6th, approaches.