For a period of almost three weeks, the Canadian Tulip Festival offers a wide range of special events and festivities, and the Flotilla on the Rideau Canal is certainly one of the highlights. This morning I made my way down to Dow’s Lake through the leafy historic neighbourhoods of Ottawa. I parked my car about 20 minutes away from Commissioner’s Park which gave me the opportunity of a nice morning stroll through some of the gorgeous residential areas in Ottawa. Queen Elizabeth Driveway had been blocked off to road traffic, but yesterday I had the opportunity to drive right next to the Rideau Canal – it simply has to be one of the most scenic areas in Ottawa and one of the most serene public spaces in any of the big world cities that I have visited.
People were lining up beside Dow’s Lake and no one was quite sure if the weather was going to hold up or not, so there were many umbrellas to be seen in the crowd. But that didn’t deter a large number of loyal onlookers from gathering on the shores of Ottawa’s urban lake, ready to take in the beautiful images of the Flotilla. Ottawa’s parade on the water is one of the highlights of the Tulip Festival and this year more than 40 especially decorated boats participated.
The Flotilla Weekend features a variety of events, including Music on the Lake on a floating stage; there is a remote-control model boat exhibition and historic blacksmithing demonstration. The main event, the Flotilla started at 1:00 pm at Dows Lake and decorated boats of varying types and sizes paraded along the Rideau Canal all the way up to the Rideau Street Bridge. Along the route there is entertainment, refreshments and bilingual commentary introducing the participants.
Always curious, I made my way towards the announcer right next to the Dows Lake Pavilion who was dispatching and describing each floating participant in the parade. Right next to the announcer I found one of the key people behind the Canadian Tulip Festival: Beno