Canada — Events
Quebec Winter Carnival
The world’s largest winter carnival was first held in 1894, when French colonists started holding a rowdy get-together before Lent to eat, drink and be merry. Today it has snowballed into Québec City’s most important tourist and local event, packed full of activities and entertainment, most based on Quebecois lifestyle. Events range from a snowshoe challenge to a double-harness derby, sleigh rides, snow sculpturing, and night parades, not to mention a host of entertainment performances, treats to eat and other heartwarming fun.
Lilac Festival
Every year on the last Sunday in May, hundreds of thousands of people flock to the trendy 4th Street Mission district of Calgary for the annual Lilac Festival. Celebrating the blooming of the spring and that all-important purple flower, the Lilac Festival features a huge market with over 600 stalls and an all-day line-up of the best in Calgary music, including rock, country, jazz, folk, and world music. The main event is a massive parade starting at 10am at the intersection of 4th Street and 25th Avenue, and continuing along 4th Street to 13th Avenue.
International Jazz Festival
Montreal’s annual jazz festival is one of the best in the world, just celebrating its 25th anniversary. Superstars of jazz, like Oscar Peterson, feature on the program, which offers more than 400 concerts over about 10 days each summer.
HSBC Celebration of Light
The annual HSBC Celebration of Light musical fireworks competition draws a crowd of an estimated 1.5 million viewers over the four nights, and people swarm over various viewing points in the city to enjoy the show. A team of pyrotechnic experts from Canada, as well as two other countries (it differs each year) wow the crowds with their spectacular firework displays set off from a barge anchored in English Bay, and the incredible explosions are perfectly co-ordinated to music (which can be picked up on local radio station Rock 101, 101.1 FM in simulcast).
WinterCity Festival
WinterCity festival offers a two-week, city-wide celebration of Toronto’s incomparable diversity of spirit, including delicious culinary experiences, live bands, skating parties and activities throughout the city. The festival celebrates Toronto’s culture, creativity and cuisine. Outdoor entertainment takes place on the weekends at Nathan Phillips Square featuring performances from celebrated Canadian music talent and world-renowned, international theatrical troupes.
Montreal High Lights Festival
Montreal’s lively 11-day mid-winter festival is designed to bring some light and warmth into local lives. It is billed as ‘three festivals in one’, having a gastronomic, musical and artistic component. There are more than 100 concerts scheduled, more than 200 culinary and wine events, and various shows and exhibitions, many of them free of charge.
Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto’s famous film festival is the largest film festival open to the general public. Unlike Sundance and Cannes which see a number of independent features and world cinema, the Toronto International Film Festival has the glamour of Hollywood coated all over it, and is considered by many filmmakers and studio bosses to be a successful launching platform to begin the crazy award season that eventually climaxes with the Academy Awards in March.
International Celtic-Acadian-Louisiana Festival
The Celtic music festival features Celtic and Acadian musicians and comprises music shows, music workshops, dance shows, dance workshops, food tasting, storytelling and many other activities. Since 2003, the Festival has been a meeting place for music and for those who love music.
Contact
Taking photography far beyond the realms of the snapshot, Contact is the most important annual photographic event in the Americas, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and exhibitors, highlighting the enduring significance of photography in modern life. About 140 different exhibitions make up Contact, sited in various locations throughout the city.
Bard on the Beach
One of Vancouver’s most endearing summer events is a picnic in Vanier Park followed by an evening performance of Shakespeare. Plays are performed in huge open-ended tents overlooking the picturesque English Bay with a mountain backdrop. Plays of past seasons have included Twelfth Night, King Lear, The Tempest and Titus Andronicus.
