Stephanie Sereda, community development co-ordinator for the Region of Queens, organized the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival. (Rick Conrad photo)
Hundreds of people flocked to the Liverpool waterfront on Saturday evening for the first Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival.
Organize by the Region of Queens, it was a free, all-ages event designed to showcase local culture and to help people shake off the last of the winter doldrums.
Here are some of the sounds from the evening and some of the people enjoying the festivities.
Listen by using the play button below. And scroll down for more photos.
Diane Warner, Teresa Whynot, Kayla Mansfield and Michelle Roy cook up some lusknikn and blueberry tea at the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival. It was one of the many activities or cultural demonstrations at the festival. (Rick Conrad photo)
Dozens of families took a chance to fly a kite on Saturday night with TideKite. People could also make their own kites. (Rick Conrad photo)
Hundreds turned out to the Liverpool waterfront on Saturday for the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival. (Rick Conrad photo)
Centennial Park in Liverpool will be the site of the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival on March 16. (Rick Conrad photo)
The Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival is back on.
It’s set for Sat., March 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Centennial Park on the Liverpool waterfront.
It was originally scheduled for Feb. 24, but the region postponed it because of Environment Canada warnings of flash freezing that afternoon and evening.
The event will feature more than 30 stations around the park, offering various artistic, cultural and winter-related activities.
The Visitor Information Centre will be open, with Galeforce Feasts hosting a pop-up restaurant, selling fresh seafood chowder.
The Royal Canadian Legion across the parking lot will also be selling hot dogs, chili and beef barley soup.
The legion will also host a makers’ market, featuring local artisans.
And Hell Bay will have hot beverages for adults on the menu, in addition to their usual lineup of craft beers.
In the park, one of the activities will be hosted by Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens. They will be holding a bocce ball demonstration.
And people can also use the community coat rack, sponsored by Folk Law, United Way of Lunenburg County and Harbour House. It will feature warm winter clothes and accessories free for anybody to take home.
TideKite, which has hosted a few kite-flying demonstrations in the park, will be on site flying special kites that light up in the dark. And they’ll offer a kite-making workshop.
Bridgewater’s DJ Danimal will be providing the music.
Liverpool Visitor Information Centre. Photo courtesy Region of Queens Municipality
By Rick Conrad
The Region of Queens is planning a nighttime outdoor party in February and everyone is invited.
Mayor Darlene Norman says the Light Up Queens Winter Night Festival is a free event and open to everyone. It will be held in Centennial Park on the Liverpool waterfront, next to the Visitor Information Centre.
“It is to bring fun, happiness, community, good times all together at a time in the year that is dismal and dark,” Norman said Tuesday. “So it would focus on diversity and culture. It’s planned to be a fun, free night involving all ages.”
Light Up Queens is scheduled for Sat., Feb. 24 from 5:30 to 9:30 pm.
Co-ordinating with the Nova Scotia Lobster Crawl, the event will feature more than 30 stations around the park, offering various artistic, cultural and winter-related activities. The Visitor Information Centre will be open, where there will be a pop-up restaurant, which will also be the site for the event’s “chowder house”, where they’ll be selling fresh seafood chowder.
TideKite, which has hosted a few kite-flying demonstrations in the park, will be on site flying special kites that light up in the dark. And they’ll offer a kite-making workshop.
Bridgewater’s DJ Danimal will be providing the music.
The Royal Canadian Legion across from the park will host a makers’ market featuring local artisans and vendors.
There will be other snacks available at the park, as well as hot drinks.
“So if you don’t want to do something physical, then maybe you want to go sit in one of the community tents and talk about night spirits,” Norman says. “There are all sorts of aspects. And everything is accessible for all of our people.
“It’s an event that’s for young, old, and in between.”
Warming tents or huts will be set up in the park. Free hats and coats will be available for those who need them. And the region will have their Mobi-Mats in the park to help those with mobility issues navigate the winter conditions.
“The idea was we wanted to make this as inclusive as we could,” Norman said. “And as we all know, inclusion also often hinges on a person’s financial ability to take part in things.”
The region is footing the $17,000 bill for the event. And Norman says they hope it will become an annual thing.
The region wanted to time the event for the opening weekend of the musical Follies at the Astor Theatre. And Norman says she hopes it will be a boon for local businesses, who are being encouraged to stay open that evening.
Stephanie Sereda, the region’s community development coordinator, came up with the idea. She says it’s been great to see how everybody has come together in such a short time to help get it off the ground.
“It’s just been a beautiful collaborative effort and everyone’s excited and given the short time frame we’re really happy to leverage the big hearts and passion of Queens.”
Sereda and Norman said the region will be releasing more details in the next few weeks. People should follow the Queens Coast Life Facebook page for more information. They hope the weather co-operates, but if it doesn’t, the event will be rescheduled.
“We just have to hope for that beautiful February night,” Norman said.
