First Canal festival day ends with a bang
Geoff Ives, Centretown News
For the second annual Rideau Canal Festival the first day of August opened with a spectacularly sunny day and finished with a bang.
Crowds lined the canal and lake for the Dow’s fireworks show, having come using all sorts of transportation – cars, bikes, roller blades and boats. They were not disappointed by the red, green, blue, purple and yellow display that lit up the sky above and the water below.
After the show reached its grand finale the crowd cheered and honked their car horns in appreciation.
Full article on the Centretown News website: First Canal festival day ends with a bang
Second Rideau Canal Festival kicks off tonight
Geoff Ives, Centretown News
The second annual festival kicks off tonight with Dancin’ on the Rideau, billed as “Ottawa’s first 7,000 metre party.” Each restaurant and club along the canal, from Mexicali Rosa’s and Lago at Dow’s Lake to the University of Ottawa and Bytown downtown, will host a different kind of dancing.
While the official theme of this year’s event is Connecting with Heritage, Gauthier said everything about the festival has another common thread.
“It’s all about having fun,” he said. “How can you get another appreciation for the canal?”
Full article on Centretown News website: Second Rideau Canal Festival kicks off tonight
Dancin’ along the Canal
Cassandra Drudi, The Ottawa Citizen
On Friday, July 31, Michel Gauthier wants us all dancing along the 7,000 metres of the urban portion of the Rideau Canal. The occasion is the opening of the second annual festival celebrating the city’s UNESCO World Heritage site.
Last year, the Rideau Canal Festival opened with a more formal ceremony, but this year organizers wanted fewer speeches and more dancing, said Gauthier, festival president and chief executive officer.
“Right now, this is all new, so why not just create? And so why not kick it off with a 7,000-metre party?”
Read the full story on the Ottawa Citizen website: Dancin’ along the Canal
Rideau Canal Festival Volunteer Positions Available
“Now in its second year, the Rideau Canal Festival is a family-focused celebration, of one of our City’s national treasures: the Rideau Canal. Recognized by UNESCO as Ontario’s only World Heritage Site; we believe it is important that the community take pride in the value and intriguing history of one of our city’s most important historic assets. Our Festival is an Aim-for-Zero-Footprint celebration, those that come from near and far have the opportunity to celebrate our heritage in an environmentally friendly way.”
This year’s edition of the Rideau Canal Festival will take place from July 31 – August 3, 2009.
We are looking for volunteers, to make this festival happen! This is a wonderful opportunity to help us promote and to educate people on our heritage and the measures to a green environment, in and around the canal.
Volunteer positions are available now through the festival, to assist with everything from logistics and operations to our exciting Zero Squad, who will encourage visitors to recycle and compost throughout the event.
You can register to volunteer by visiting the Rideau Canal Festival website at www.rideaucanalfestival.ca/volunteer.html or by contacting volunteers@rideaucanalfestival.ca.
Canal Festival Celebrates Heritage ‘In a Big Way’
Rideau Canal Festival connects children to UNESCO World Heritage SiteCindy Chan, Epoch Times Staff
Two years ago when the Rideau Canal was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Michel Gauthier had the idea that something so cherished and important to the quality of life needed an event dedicated to celebrating it.
The seasoned festival and event organizer turned that vision into a winning family-friendly and environmentally conscious celebration that received honour as “2008’s Best New Festival” in Ontario.
“When we’re privileged enough to have a UNESCO World Heritage Site in our city, we need to celebrate it in a big way,” said Mr. Gauthier, president and chief executive officer of the not-for-profit Rideau Canal Festival.
The festival returns July 31 to August 3 over the long weekend this summer.
The full story is available on the Epoch Times website: Canal Festival Celebrates Heritage ‘In a Big Way’
Five things to love about Ottawa
Rideau Canal the symbol of everything great about Ottawa
TRACEY TONG | METRO OTTAWA
“The Rideau Canal is a major icon of the capital,” said senior manager, operations, facilities and programs at the National Capital Commission Marc Corriveau. “It is a magnet for locals and visitors and a recreational heaven that greatly contributes to the quality of life of the region.”
“I think it’s an incredible resource for the community,” said Rideau Canal Festival spokesman Doug Little.
“People know about the skating in the winter, the tulips in the springtime, and we’re well known to boaters. We get 85,000 boaters a year, who come to the canal from right across the country.”
In 2007, the canal received its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This August, the second annual zero-footprint Rideau Canal Festival will celebrate that designation as well as active living in Ottawa.
Read the full story on the Metro Ottawa website: Five things to love about Ottawa
