With Family Day long weekend comes a host of family-friendly activities to take part in this weekend in St. Albert.
1. Fire and Ice Festival
The local firefighters union is set to host its annual Fire and Ice Family Day Festival on Monday.
The event, which is free to attend, is taking place at Lacombe Lake Park from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m..
Kids in attendance will be able to participate in an obstacle course, make some new furry friends at a petting zoo, make crafts or take a sleigh ride. Save-on-Foods and McDonalds are also sponsoring food and drink for the event.
A free park-and-ride service will be operated out of the Bellerose Composite High School parking lot beginning at 11:50 a.m., with busses leaving every 10 minutes. The last bus will leave the park at 4:20 p.m.
2. Library screening of The Jamaicans Go North
With February being Black History Month, the St. Albert Public Library has organized a documentary screening of The Jamaicans Go North, which tells the true story of Elmar and Mavis Neil.
The screening, which is taking place on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. at the downtown library, is free to attend but those interested in going are asked to register in advance through library's website.
“Through documentary film, St. Albert resident Marilyn McGreer shares the story of why her father chose Alberta as the family home in the late 1960s,” the library says about the documentary online. “This engaging visual history traces his journey from the Caribbean Island of Jamaica in search of better social, economic and spiritual opportunities for his young family in Alberta.”
“Learn about the obstacles he faced in answering the racial questions of "the colour of love?" and "who is my neighbour?" and hear the powerful lessons in self-worth he handed down to his children.”
After the screening will be a discussion between McGreer and vice president of the African and African Descendants Friendship Club, Toni Harris.
3. Family Day activities at the Art Gallery, Museum
Both the St. Albert Art Gallery and the Musée Héritage Museum have some special Family Day activities taking place on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
At the Art Gallery is local artist Samantha Williams-Chapelsky's exhibition Time and Terrain — Connecting to Land and Sky, which features a host of paintings that aim to capture feelings and experiences in related to the prairies.
“Her works freely capture the entire experience of the vast open prairie — the sweep of wind across the field, unbelievable ranges of colour and a sky that encompasses the whole soul,” the Art Gallery writes online.
The Gallery also has a station for attendees to create their own textural art, and play some I Spy.
At the Museum families can work together to solve the mystery of a lost stone that powers the museum, while also doing some cookie decorating and arts and crafts.
On Saturday morning there is also speaking event featuring Dan Cardinal, the vice chairperson for the Métis Nation of Alberta, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m..
“He will share the importance of the Cree language's past, present and future,” the Museum's event website says.
Cardinal's event is taking place just as the Museum unveils two new exhibits that focus on Indigenous languages. One such exhibit is Cree: The People's Language.
Cree is the most commonly spoken Indigenous language, and the Museum's exhibit provides information about Cree's syllabic writing system, the chance to listen audio of the Cree language, and more.
4. uPcYcLe student art show at St. Albert Centre
Some of St. Albert's best and brightest art students have a new exhibition at St. Albert Centre.
The exhibition, called uPcYcLe, features works of art from reused material or other types of waste.
Gazette reporter Kevin Ma wrote recently that there are 56 works on display, ranging from sculptures to paintings to robots, that were all created by local K-12 students.
The artwork will be for sale for $75, with proceeds going to the Youth Empowerment and Support Services non-profit based in Edmonton.
The exhibtion runs until Feb. 26.
