Canada, the world’s second largest country consists of many provinces each of them with very different landscapes, cultural heritages, tourist attractions and must-see top events and festivals.
Alberta is the fourth largest province in Canada, and offers a number of important events and festivals including
Banff Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival
mid May
Banff, Alberta
The Banff Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival is a celebration of food and wine in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Guests and “foodies” sample from a wide assortment of national and international wines, spirits, liqueurs and beer along with gourmet food samples prepared by top Banff & Lake Louise area restaurants and hotels.
Edmonton Folk Music Festival
August
Edmonton, Alberta
Taking place in GallagherPark just across the river from downtown Edmonton, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival is one of the world’s biggest and best attended folk festivals. This annual four-day outdoor event attracts folk musicians from around the world offering traditional and contemporary folk music including Celtic, country, blues, gospel, soul and world music, workshops, jam sessions and fully fledged concerts.
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The most western province, British Columbia is the third largest province in Canada. Its mountains and spectacular alpine scenery, stunning Pacific Ocean coastline and the mild climate attract millions of tourists each year for both summer and winter events and festivals, including:
Annual Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade
early to Mid February
Vancouver, British Columbia
Established by the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver in 1974, the Annual Vancouver Chinese New Year Parade in Vancouver marks the Chinese New Year with celebrations around Chinatown, culminating in the annual Chinese New Year Parade—one of the city’s biggest and most spectacular, featuring 3,000 performers and attracting over 50,000 spectators. Today it is ranked as one of the city’s three largest non-commercial annual parades.
Celebration of Light
July/August
Vancouver, British Columbia
The Celebration of Light, Vancouver's two-week midsummer fireworks bonanza, attracts more than 1.6 million spectators when the sparkles hit the skies on four separate nights over two weeks - Wednesday, Saturday and Wednesday and Saturday again at the end of July and beginning of August. The Celebration of Light is today the largest fireworks competition in the world and is considered to be one of North America’s top pyrotechnic competitions.
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Manitoba is located in the centre of Canada and is best known to tourists for Churchill – "the polar bear capital of the world" as well as many outdoor and historical attractions. The capital is Winnipeg.
Top events and festivals in Manitoba include
Folklorama Festival
early August
Winnipeg, Manitoba
The largest and longest-running multi-cultural festival in the world, the Folklorama Festival presents over 44 cultural pavilions where guests can sample ethnic food, meet traditionally costumed volunteers, enjoy lively cultural entertainment, interactive fun and learn about cultures and countries from around the world. Folklorama attracts close to half a million visitors each year.
Festival du Voyageur
end February
Winnipeg, Manitoba
The 10-day Festival du Voyageur event celebrates Canada’s fur trading history, winter, all things French-Canadian, and the “voyageurs” who worked for the fur trading companies. Affectionately referred to as the “World’s Largest Kitchen Party”, the Festival du Voyageur offers a wide variety of historical and educating activities, exhibits, arts and crafts and entertainment.
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The most eastern province of Canada, Newfoundland is made up of the island of Newfoundland, thousands of small islands, and Labrador on the mainland. The many attractions include major national parks, viking ruins and quaint fishing villages. St John’s is both the capital and the largest city. It is also the oldest city in North America. The most popular festival is Royal St John’s Regatta - the oldest continuing sporting event in North America
Cain’s Quest Snowmobile Endurance Race
mid March
Labrador City, Newfoundland
Billed as the “ultimate” in extreme racing, Cain’s Quest Snowmobile Endurance Race is aworld classsporting event covering more than 2500 km and is the longest snowmobile endurance race in Canada. Teams of two riders and their snowmobiles race through the stunning landscapes of Labrador from LabradorCity to Churchill Falls-Happy Valley-Goose Bay and back.
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Nunavut is known for its aboriginal heritage, Arctic landscape and several parks and events and festivals that include:
Northwest PassageMarathon
end July to beginning August
Somerset Island, Nunavut
Known as one of the world’s toughest marathons, and North America’s northernmost marathon, the Northwest Passage Marathon is a rough, wilderness trail across rough terrain against the backdrop of the magnificent Northwest Passage on Somerset Island.
Toonik Tyme Festival
Early April Iqaluit, Nunavut
A community tradition for more than 45 years, Toonik Tyme is Iqaluit's annual spring festival celebrating both the culture of the community and the return of spring to the region with a week of celebrations including snowmobile races, Inuit games, traditional Inuit activities, igloo building, dog team races, scavenger hunts and a craft fair, Inuit games, and a seal skinning contest.
Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" that has helped the city to develop itstourism industry.
Europeans first arrived in the area in 1619 when a Danish expedition led by Jens Munk wintered where Churchill would later stand.The current population of the town is only 800 people.
In spite of its size Churchill is very well developed. The town has a modern multiplex centre housing a public library, hospital, health centre, day care, swimming pool, ice hockey rink, curling rinks, gym, basket ball courts, indoor playground, one cinema and a cafeteria. There are several hotels and museums in the town.
Tourism is a major contributor to the local economy. Tourists visit to view the Polar Bears and the Beluga whales in the Churchill River in June/July. Each year, 10,000-12,000 tourists visit the place.
Starting in the 1980s, the town developed a sizable tourism industry focused on the migration habits of the polar bear. Tourists can safely view polar bears from specially modified buses known as tundra buggies. October and early November are the most feasible times to see polar bears, thousands of which wait on the vast peninsula until the water freezes on Hudson Bay so that they can return to hunt their primary food source, seals.