Fort George sends off Canada 150

The Fort George National Historic Site in Niagara-on-the-Lake is icing off its Canada 150 celebrations on Saturday.

The second annual Icetravaganza wraps up a historic year in the country’s tale.

“Last year was our first year doing Icetravaganza,” says Erin Ronfeld, a Fort George staff member involved in planning the event. “When we did it, it was to kick off Canada 150, so this is us kind of doing our last big celebration.”

Ronfeld says last year’s Icetravaganza had a huge turnout.

“We weren’t expecting it to be so popular,” Ronfeld says. “It was very cold and snowy, as I suspect tomorrow will likely be as well, but people braved that cold and they came and they joined us and they enjoyed themselves.”

According to Ronfeld, some of the new activities include a lumberjack show and face painting. In addition, Sentineal Carriages — a NOTL-based company — will be offering free horse and carriage rides into the fort. There will also be train rides into the fort for both children and adults, she says.

Inside the park, Ronfeld says there’s new displays from Parks Canada, including a virtual reality experience and a display about the Franklin Expedition, which “all of the staff in particular are very excited about.”

Other events outside the fort include skating, interactive games, photo cut outs, ice maple taffy, a birds of prey show, Canada 150 films, and marshmallow roasting. Indoors, there will be a soldier dress-up and photo area, hot chocolate, musket firing demonstrations, and Indigenous games and exhibit.

Ronfeld says the event took about two months to plan and expects a good turnout, even with the chilly weather forecast.

“We are expecting it to be cold, we are expecting snow, but we’re hoping to see anywhere from 800 to 1,000 people, easily,” she says.

Admission to the rink and fort is free, with skating beginning at 10 a.m., followed by activities throughout the day as listed on Parks Canada’s website.