Show Notes
Kevin Swayze tells us about Unsilent Night, an annual one-night festival put on by the City of Cambridge in downtown Galt. He gives a description of the walking tour, talks about the historic buildings downtown, tells us of Galt as a film set, compares Galt to Hespeler (and Kitchener!), and tells us about living in the Rose Hill area of Galt.
Throughout the interview Phil Kline’s music for Unsilent Night plays in the background.
The interview starts at 3m23s.
Find Kevin Swayze online:
- Website: https://kevinswayze.com/
- Facebook: Kevin Swayze (@kevin.swayze) | Facebook
- Instagram: Kevin Swayze (@kswayze1) | Instagram
- YouTube: Kevin Swayze (@kevinlswayze) | YouTube
- Vimeo: Kevin Swayze | Vimeo
- E-mail: kswayze@sentex.net
- Phone: +1‑226‑924‑4237
Upcoming Events
-
Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night
- When: 6:50pm on Friday 5 December 2025
- Where: Start at Cambridge City Hall Civic Square
- Location: 50 Dickson Street, Cambridge, Ontario Map
- Website: https://www.cambridge.ca/en/parks-recreation-culture/phil-kline-s-unsilent-night.aspx
Podcast
Download: ckms-community-connections-2025-11-24-episode233-kevin-swayze-for-phil-klines-un-silent-night-in-cambridge.mp3 (53MB, 58m12s, episode 233)
Index
| Time | Title | Album | Artist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0m00s | Theme for CKMS Community Connections ccc |
 CKMS Community Connections |
Steve Todd |
| 0m51s | Unsilent Night |
 Participate |
Phil Kline |
| 3m23s | Kevin Swayze tells us of the origin of Unsilent Night from Wikipedia. There are references to “Boom Boxes” and “Walkman” players. Cambridge joined in 2008, it’s a walk around the streets of old Galt. It started with about 500 people, but participation increased to 10,000 people by 2018. It’s a very different energy from ducking out of the way of trucks barrelling through the streets. | ||
| 8m35s | Kevin gives us a descriptive tour of Unsilent Night. You’ll run into layers of history throughout all of old Galt. He describes the streets, buildings, displays, and performances. There’s fun for everybody. Kevin tells us of some of the buildings that were used as film sets, and some of their historic uses. | ||
| 16m40s | Kevin takes a brief detour to talk about the University of Waterloo School of Architecture building and its library. And then continues across the river on the west side of Galt. Kevin tells us of the buildings and the businesses and manufacturers that used to be there. | ||
| 26m30s | Kevin gives his impressions of the sense of space he gets from downtown Galt. Talking about the intended purpose of the streets — for people, horses, and trains. Not even bicycles, really. Heavy trucks were banned downtown two years ago. | ||
| 28m10s | Kevin says he feels Unsilent Night as a visceral event, he feels it deep inside. Bob asks if he needs prior historical knowledge to appreciate it. Kevin supplies some that historical knowledge. | ||
| 32m04s | Kevin describes downtown Galt as seen in The Handmaid’s Tale, describing some of the sets used in filming. And segues into the coffee shops and other stores in Galt. | ||
| 36m12s | Unsilent Night takes place on Friday, 5 December 2025 at 7:00pm. Traffic will be terrible, best to park and do some shopping in Hespeler, then take the bus to downtown Galt. Get there early, and have a meal in a downtown restaurant while you’re waiting. | ||
| 38m15s | Reminiscing about downtowns as they used to be, both Kitchener and Cambridge. Kitchener is different, bigger and beefier, with bigger space and no river running down the middle. Kevin tells us of his time working downtown, walking over the bridges, and describes the downtown as it was then. | ||
| 40m40s | Kevin says he could walk the Unsilent Night in about 20 minutes, but it’s meant to be taken at a more leisurely pace. And because it’s crowded, the progress is slow. Expect it to take about an hour and a half. Dress warmly, there may not be places to duck inside to warm up. It’s one night only, but come down to see the space, it’s great fun. This has the largest turnout of any Unsilent Night across the world. Downtown Galt is a space that’s built for it, like walking in a snow globe. | ||
| 43m10s | Kevin doesn’t know much about the music, or Phil Kline, the composer. His personal impressesion is a soundtrack to fill the gaps while your attention is on the displays. It doesn’t overpower the other things going on. It’s the same music that plays every year, at all the venues across the world. Unsilent Night is a space to go out and not feel there’s any agenda, it’s explore and see what you can find. There’s no worry about cars, it’s nice to let people have a space without cars. | ||
| 47m10s | Kevin compares Galt with Hespeler, another downtown built for pedestrians. Even more compact than Galt, it’s more “muscular” than Galt, but still feels like a little mill town. Kevin describes the library there, and some other downtown sights. Bob comments that Kevin has an eye for architecture and history. Talking about heritage protection and worries about sticking tall buildings in the downtown. Kevin lives where there are bits of history in suburbia. Talking about baseball and toboganning. | ||
| 57m33s | Kevin summarizes Unsilent Night and Bob gives the end credits. | ||
CKMS Community Connections airs on CKMS-FM 102.7 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Mondays and alternate Fridays.
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Bonus Video
Video: CKMS Community Connections for Monday 24 November 2025, 246 MB (Radio Waterloo video)
Show notes and podcast interview content is Copyright © 2025 by the participants, and released under a 
Creative Commons Attribution Only license. Copy, re-use, and derivative works are allowed with attribution to Radio Waterloo and a link to this page. Music selections are copyright by the respective rights holders. The theme music is written and performed by Steven Todd.
