THUNDER BAY - After three years, Fort William Historical Park is excited to finally be welcoming families back to the site this Family Day long weekend to enjoy some fun outdoor winter activities.
“Family Day weekend at the Fort is a great opportunity to come out and enjoy winter, as if we haven’t had enough of that already, but with the changes in the regulations recently, we have an opportunity to bring out people here in a big way,” said Patrick Morash, general manager at Fort William Historical Park.
This weekend, Fort William Historical Park is hosting a variety of outdoor activities, including skating, tubing, snowshoeing, solar viewing, Indigenous storytelling, and other educational activities presented by Science North.
This is the first time the park has been able to host such an event for the Family Day weekend in three years, with COVID-19 restrictions cancelling large gatherings in 2020 and 2021, and flood damage in 2019 halting events.
Morash said with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the province, they were able to host a larger outdoor event with no capacity limits, though attendees are still asked to practice physical distancing and to wear masks.
“It’s huge, both for us and the community more broadly,” Morash said. “People in Thunder Bay have been looking forward to all sorts of opportunities to get out and do stuff. This is a great opportunity for people to get outdoors in a safe environment.”
Past Family Day weekends at the park have seen more than 5,000 people come out over the course of the three days. Morash said it’s hard to anticipate the turn out this year but he hopes families will take the opportunity to get out and enjoy the outdoors.
Fort William Historical Park will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the weekend. Tickets are $5 per person though children under five-years-old are free.
