Canal Days a nod to marine heritage
Major Canadian recording artists will headline concerts at this weekend’s Canal Days in Port Colborne, but several massive water vessels will also be a major attraction at the four-day festival.
On Friday morning, HMCS Oriole, a Royal Canadian Navy sail training vessel based out of Halifax, N.S., will be the first to make an appearance in the Welland Canal along West Street.
Empire Sandy from Buffalo, N.Y., fireboat E.M. Cotter, the U.S. brig Niagara, Lettie G. Howard and Private Robertson will also be available for tours, docked in the canal Friday to Monday.
A golf challenge, car show, attractions in the downtown area, fireworks, an international kite festival, a kids zone, rides and much more fill the event schedule.
This is the first year that concerts will be held at H.H. Knoll Lakeview Park, bringing in 54-40 on Friday night and Blue Rodeo Saturday.
The remainder of the festival runs at Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum, West Street, Lock 8 Park and other locations throughout the city.
Michelle Cuthbert, the city’s corporate communications officer, said excitement is in the air all around the community in days leading up to everything starting Friday.
Local businesses, organizations and churches are adjusting signage in front of their buildings, getting ready to welcome visitors.
“It’s everybody coming together. It’s a great buzz,” she said.
She said moving the concerts to a new venue is a major feature of this year’s celebrations, with the backdrop of Lake Erie being a prime piece of Port Colborne’s identity, symbolizing the city’s history, as well as the amount of commerce that travels through the canal.
“It celebrates the connection to our marine history but also the current marine industry,” she said.
At the museum, where Canal Days began in 1979, Arabella’s Tea Room is sponsoring free admission for people over the weekend. An interactive marine exhibit will kick off on the weekend and the Niagara Antique Power show and Great Lakes Model Boat Association will also be back on the museum grounds.
For more information, visit www.portcolborne.ca.