Chubby Checker's March date at the Avalon is back for 2027

The man who made 'The Twist' a phenomenon returns to Fallsview's Avalon Theatre on Tuesday, March 9, a 3pm show that has become a late-winter fixture across the river.

For a few years now, one of the surest signs that winter is loosening its grip on the Niagara frontier has been Chubby Checker on the marquee at the Avalon Theatre. The 2027 date is in.

Chubby Checker plays The Avalon Theatre in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Tuesday, March 9, 2027, with a 3pm start. The show was announced Oct 28. The theatre holds 1,559, and tickets are through Ticketmaster.

If the pattern feels familiar, that is because it is. Checker played the Avalon in March 2024 and March 2025, and again this past March, when Niagara Falls Tourism listed a run from March 10 to 12. His history at Fallsview goes back further than that; Music Life Magazine reviewed him there in March 2019. For Buffalo-area fans, the drive across the border for this one has become something close to a tradition.

When to get tickets: sooner rather than later. A 3pm show on a weekday is aimed squarely at people who can plan ahead, and a room of about 1,500 is not huge for an artist with this kind of name recognition. Note that the ticket link is on Ticketmaster's Canadian site, so prices will be in Canadian dollars.

In 2008, Billboard named "The Twist" the biggest chart hit of all time.

Who is he, for anyone who needs the reminder? Chubby Checker is the stage name of Ernest Evans, born in South Carolina in 1941. He was performing on the streets of Philadelphia before he signed with Cameo-Parkway Records in 1959 and recorded his version of Hank Ballard's "The Twist," according to Biography.com. The song, released in 1960, made the dance a national craze and made him a star. In 2008, Billboard named "The Twist" the biggest chart hit of all time, looking at every single to chart between 1958 and 2008.

He did not stop there. In 1988 he was back on the charts with "Yo Twist," a collaboration with the Fat Boys, and in 2007 "Knock Down the Wall" went to No. 1 on Billboard's dance chart, as the South Carolina Encyclopedia and Live 5 News recount. A career that spans "The Twist" and a 21st-century dance-chart hit is a rare thing.

Why this room? The Avalon at Fallsview Casino Resort is a comfortable, seated theatre, well suited to an afternoon show and to an audience that has come to sing along rather than stand at the barrier. And a Tuesday matinee means you can make a day of it and still be home for dinner.

Some acts are built for a big night out. This one is built for a Tuesday afternoon with friends, a few songs you already know by heart, and a chance to see the man who made them twist.

Sources: Chubby Checker, March 10–12, 2026 (Niagara Falls Tourism) (niagarafallstourism.com); Chubby Checker at Fallsview Casino – March 26, 2019 (Music Life Magazine) (musiclifemagazine.net); Chubby Checker at Fallsview Casino (Clifton Hill) (cliftonhill.com); Chubby Checker (Biography.com) (biography.com); Checker, Chubby (South Carolina Encyclopedia) (scencyclopedia.org); Black History Spotlight: Chubby Checker is still 'twistin' after 60 years (Live 5 News) (live5news.com); Chubby Checker (Wikipedia) (en.wikipedia.org); Chubby Checker at The Avalon Theatre (JamBase listing) (jambase.com); Avalon Theatre at Fallsview Casino Resort (The Vendry) (thevendry.com)