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Want to get out on the water? Make a new local festival your first stop
Whether you live to paddle or are just wondering what all the fuss is about, a free new festival next Saturday is the place to get your feet wet. Trailhead outdoor store is putting on its “first annual” Spring Runoff Festival on April 25 and it promises to make a big splash.
“For the last three years, each spring we’ve given a lecture on local canoe routes and it has filled to overcapacity,” says Wally Schaber, Trailhead director. “So we decided to do something more.
“On a per capita basis, Ottawa is the biggest paddling centre in the country. There’s just so much easy access to paddling routes. We’re near Algonquin Park. The local schools have great outdoor education programs. Wherev-er you go — even on trips in the Northwest Territories — you run into people from Ottawa.”
Schaber has invited more than 30 local groups to set up booths in the Trailhead parking lot to give out information on everything from beginner lessons and calm canoe routes to trekking on Quebec’s Dumoine River and whitewater paddling in Mexico.
Exhibitors include the YMCA Canoe Club, Friends of the Jock, Esprit Rafting, Ottawa Outdoors, Blackfeather, Ontario Parks, The Alpine Club and Madawaska Kanu Centre.
“We have a lot of friends in the business and this is a chance for everyone to combine,” says Schaber, who with a partner started Trailhead in 1976.
“Each group is the expert on the area where they work. People will be able to pick up all the brochures, colour in options on a map and find a company with a personality that suits them.”
Schaber says you’ll also be able to find out about two new trends: kayak fishing (“it’s becoming very popular with people who traditionally used motorboats for fishing,” says Schaber) and stand-up board paddling (“it’s migrated east from Hawaii”).
Trailhead will have new and used canoes, kayaks and tents for sale.
You can also head over to Westboro Beach to test paddle some of Trailhead’s canoes and kayaks.
And for thrilling action, you can head around the corner from Trailhead to Bate Island off the Champlain Bridge where the Level Six Whitewater Cup competition (“a wave-riding rodeo for experts”) will be going on all weekend.
A pancake breakfast and barbecue lunch at Trailhead will raise funds for the Christie Lake Kids program.
You’ll also be able to find out about five great paddling events coming up nearby in the months ahead:
n Palmerfest: To be held the weekends of May 8 to 10 and 15 to 17, this is “Canada’s premier canoeing and kayaking festival,” says Mike Mechan, Trailhead’s event co-ordinator. To find out more about the event that’s based at the Paddlers Co-op Boathouse in Palmer Rapids (about an hour’s drive from Ottawa), visit the Rapid Media booth at the festival.
n Canadian Rivers Day: On Sunday June 14, this national event will be celebrated on the Ottawa River with a giant flotilla, including at least 12 voyageur canoes, travelling from Victoria Island to Petrie Island. Open to everyone, “this local awareness event draws flat-water paddlers looking to promote the conservation of the Ottawa River,” says Mecham. Stop by Max Finkelstein’s Ottawa Riverkeeper booth to find out more.
n Ottawa’s Dragonboat Festival: To be held June 19 to 21, it’s North America’s largest dragonboat festival, says Mechan. It’s held annually at Mooney’s Bay and involves 5,500 paddlers, attracting 70,000 spectators. To find out more, stop by the Dragon Boat Festival booth.
n The Upper Gatineau Whitewater Festival: Aug. 28 to 30 will be the 13th edition of a festival dedicated to the preservation of rivers. Presented by the Fédération Québécois du Canot et Kayak, it takes place in Maniwaki. “Over 1,000 paddlers tackle this difficult section of the river’s big whitewater,” says Mecham. Visit the Madawaska Kanu Centre booth for more information.
n La Grande Descente: On Sept. 26, the third-annual descent of the Gatineau River in non-motorized boats will be held. Groups from families to avid paddlers travel down the river between Wakefield and Cantley in the midst of the fall colours. “It’s a fun new event with a folk festival,” says Schaber. To find out more, visit the Grande Descente booth at the festival.
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