Beautiful, cosmopolitan and diverse Canada has the people, landscapes and cities to attract comers for a whole host of reasons. These reasons include great cuisine, wonderful nature and vibrant nightlife… and a number of fun festivals and events each and every year.
One of the festival highlights includes Vancouver’s Celebration of Light, which is the biggest firework competition on the planet, full to the brim with crazy colours and emphatic explosions. The event lasts several days and typically attracts almost 1.5 million attendees along with competitors from every corner of the globe. Another top-notch festival is Winterlude, a winter-themed snowfest with ice and sleet aplenty. The attractions include the largest ice rink in the world (which clocks in at a crazy 7.8 kilometres), the children-friendly Snowflake Kingdom, ice sculptures, musical concerts and dancing on ice.
Music festivals in Canada include Edmonton Folk Festival, which is one of the best and biggest folk festivals in the world. For four days, the festival offers huge names from folk, blues, bluegrass and Celtic music, and previous performers here have included Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, David Byrne and Norah Jones. There is also Montreal Jazz Fest, which welcomes almost 2.5 million jazz aficionados keen to get their earful of trumpets and trombones. Every year the festival offers around 3,000 performers and 650 concerts. More music festivals in the country include Field Trip, Bestival and CBC Music Festival.
Montreal also hosts Just For Laughs Festival, a chortle-fest of hilarious proportions. This event holds a number of performances and stand-up comedy and appearances from some of the biggest names in laughter.
Toronto International Film Festival is one of the world’s premier cinema events for anyone seeking to boggle their eyes and catch the best of blockbusters, independents and unique oddities. The festival also offers discussions, panels and workshops along with prestigious premieres and special guests.
Strange and surreal festivals in Canada include Collingwood Elvis Festival, the lip-smacking Chocolate Fest, the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships and plenty of poutine festivals, all engorged with cheesy, gravy-covered goodness. Other food festivals in Canada include the month-long Feast Tofino, Victoria’s Taste Festival, Great Saskatchewan Mustard Festival, Burlington’s Ribfest and Festival des Fromages Fins, which is full of cheese and wine.
Throughout the vast and varied land of Canada, there are a bunch of other exciting events and festivals with plenty for everyone. Get to Canada and join the fun!