Powwow, international festival and floating canoes this weekend

WATERLOO REGION — Enjoy a traditional powwow, walk for kidney disease or watch a beautiful flotilla of canoes draped in textiles float down the Grand.

There’s a lot to do this weekend. Here’s a short list:

Pop by Waterloo Park for University of Waterloo’s annual powwow. The free event is hosted by the Waterloo Aboriginal Education Centre and will feature drummers, dancers, crafts and food and Indigenous artists.

Celebrate the city’s diversity at the Cambridge International Festival in Riverside Park on Saturday. There will be music, dancing, food, family-friendly activities and more. For a full schedule of events, visit the website at www.cambridgeinternationalfestival.ca.

Take part in the KW Kidney Walk on Sunday to raise money for kidney disease. Walkers will meet at Waterloo Park at 9 a.m. and the walk begins at 10 a.m. For more information, visit the website at www.kidneywalk.ca. You can sign up as an individual, join a team or create a team. You can also bring a bag of gently used clothing as another way to support the cause.

Watch a flotilla of dressed up canoes and kayaks float down the Grand River this Saturday as part of the Grand River Woolly Ride. To celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial, local artist Sue Sturdy organized a floating art installation that will have 150 canoes and 15 kayaks to travel down the river from Linear Park to Dickson Park starting at 9:30 a.m.

The canoes and kayaks will be decorated in donated knitted, crocheted and hand-sewn materials to celebrate Cambridge’s textile heritage. To learn more or register a canoe or kayak, visit the event’s Facebook page.