RED LAKE -- After two years without the annual Norseman Festival, the people of Red Lake saw it return this weekend. Over July 15 to 17 activities filled the Centennial Park area.
The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell opening ceremonies Friday afternoon, with entrance from the Red Lake Legion Colour Guard. Eric Melillo the Kenora riding Member of Parliament and Sol Mamakwa of the New Democratic Party gave welcoming speeches following the Lieutenant.
An official cake cutting ceremony and fish fry followed opening ceremonies.
At every Norseman Festival, Centennial Park is lined with a hearty local vendor market, as well as activities for kids. This year was no exception.
The additions of Virtual 3D Float Plane Rides grabbed large attention. Float Planes are the focus of the Norseman Festival as Red Lake is a town filled with rich Norseman plane industry and history. At each festival sightseeing Norseman flights of the Red Lake area are offered to guests. This year, two World War 2 aircrafts were also offering sightseeing flights.
Another addition to the vendor market was the Lucky Mutts local dog club’s puppy booth. The dog club brought in several of their available puppies out for people to meet and play with as a way to support the festival and bring in potential adopters. They sold homemade dog treats and locally made quilts as well.
The Francophone Association of Red Lake kicked off the festivities on Saturday with a very well attended crepe breakfast. Crepes were offered in regular or gluten-free, with berries, whip cream and maple syrup.
Saturday’s events included a booth for Science North’s the Great Northern Ontario Roadshow. The booth was set up with science friendly activities and a station for people to vote on what they’d like to see at the new Science North centres being built in Kenora and Thunder Bay. The centres are expected to open in 2025. Science North ran three shows for families where they did science experiments with participation from the kids.
An aerobatics show was held over Howey Bay on Saturday and Sunday with stunt pilots Peter McLeod and Luke Penner. This show included daring stunts such as air dives, barrel rolls, and loop de loops.
The Red Lake Regional Heritage centre opened its doors to a new exhibit on Saturday for the Norseman Festival. The people of Red Lake got to see the beautiful photographs of local artist Amy Newport. The heritage centre also hosted a book launch for the ‘Madsen, the story of a Mining Town’, which were being signed by author R.A. Riley.
Sunday saw a magic show by Ryan Price and Sleepy the Clown from Winnipeg. The festival ended with a bush plane fly by and pig roast in the evening.
