THUNDER BAY – Residents were invited out to Fort William Historical Park on Saturday to celebrate 50th Anniversary of the park with the start of the Great Rendezvous.
To start off the festivities, Fort William Historical Park held Celtic days, a two-day event celebrating Celtic culture.
“We've got bagpipes, we've got Highland dancers, we've got a high a high tea going on. There's also An Address to a Haggis, so, all sorts of things related to Celtic culture.” said Emily Carr, communications officer.
“And then on Monday, we kick off Northern Nature, so focusing a lot on the unique ecosystem that is here where Fort William is located, both looking at past and present. We've got lots of partners coming out to help us with that.”
Carr said that, when planning all of the programming for Rendezvous, organizers based their decisions on the unique aspects of the area.
“Not just historically, but like we picked northern nature and food because those are integral to the not just the history, but also the development of how things changed through time through Canada,” she said. “So, we just looked at those key moments, key points and picked those to help us choose our topics.”
Organizers decided to start the rendezvous with Celtic Days due to the immense impact the the Scottish have had on the fur trade according to Carr.
“Especially since Fort William was, and the northwest Company were very much organized by Scottish businessmen who then partnered with French Canadians and Indigenous peoples,” she said.
“So, it's also it's not just focusing just on Celtic, we do have, you know, different aspects from French, Canadian culture and specifically Anishinaabe culture happening with us this week, like on Wednesday, we have a Métis art program happening in the afternoon.”
To view the full schedule for the Great Rendezvous, visit the Fort William Historical Park website!
