Description: The Canada Day celebrations start a little early out in these parts. Canada Day is always on July 1. The Kick-Off party is a couple days early, this year on June 29 from 6 to 9pm.
The Kick-Off party is a small family festival that takes place in the parking lot of the Cole Harbour Recreation Centre. When you arrive there is a table where volunteers are handing out free paper Canadian Flags and free Canada Flag lapel pins.
There is a BBQ (hot dogs, veggie dogs available on request) with drinks (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, and bottled water) for the whole family.
They always have a bouncy house for the kids. The bouncy house they have had the last couple of years has been a nice friendly castle, which is great because some of the more elaborate bouncers are scary for my four-year-old. There was a bit of a line-up, but the kid got to go through twice. She had to wait about 4 turns (they only let 6 kids on at a time).
There were also games for slightly older kids. They had a hula-hoop contest. There were only about 8 hoops, so the kids took turns. They ran about 4 contests and the winners of each contest won a small prize.
Then there was a limbo contest. This was a very informal contest where everyone who participated won a sticker. (Even the four-year-old who refused to go under the stick more than twice).
There was also a face-painting table and another table where kids could colour in a picture of a Mountie on a horse.
There was rock music playing throughout most of the event, which was turned down for Chuckles the Clown to do a magic show. Chuckles also made balloon animals during the rest of the party.
The music was turned down again around 7:45 for the singing of O Canada. After the national anthem, we all had cake. There were 2 large sheet cakes, so there was plenty to go around, and even get seconds.
The whole event is free, so it is a great value. The kids have a blast. The people running all the stands are staff of the Halifax Recreation Department and in many cases they are the same people who teach the classes for the kids, so that is fun for the kids too.
The only problem with the event is lack of parking space. Since the even takes place in the parking lot, you need to park along the street or across the street at another recreation centre building. Cole Harbour Road is a very busy street and there are no close crosswalks, so it is a bit of a problem.
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