Festival promotes public interaction with Rideau Canal
Patrons can reflect in love affair with city landmark
By Jennifer Pagliaro, The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA-For the third annual Rideau Canal Festival, it’s all about the love.
“This is the time to take a moment and express why they love the Rideau Canal,” says Michel Gauthier, executive director of the festival, which starts Friday.
A four-foot-tall steel heart art installation — “Love Locks,” created by Saskatoon artist Monique Martin — has been stationed just outside the Bytown Museum at the Ottawa locks at the north end of the canal.
Gauthier says organizers are inviting visitors to the scenic location to express their affection for the UNESCO World Heritage site by securing a metal padlock onto the heart.
Read more: Festival promotes public interaction with Rideau Canal
Appreciate Rideau, says festival director
Tracey Tong, Metro Ottawa
Michel Gauthier adds a padlock to artist Monique Martin’s interactive Love Locks art installation outside the Bytown Museum, which allows festival goers to express their love for the canal. (Photgraph by Tracey Tong)
In the summer, we run, cycle and walk alongside it. In the winter, we bring out the skates and go for a spin on its frozen surface.
But for the most part, people take the Rideau Canal for granted, said the executive director and founder of the Rideau Canal Festival.
While there is “a lot of love out there for the canal,” said Michel Gauthier, “People don’t understand that the Rideau Canal is in the same club as the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”
Read more: Appreciate Rideau, says festival director
