On Monday July 1, the University of Waterloo held its annual Canada Day celebration at the Columbia Lake area on North campus. The festivities were a partnership between the university and Feds, but also had a number of events run by the Engineering Society. The celebration, with over 40 000 people attending, was so large that the police shut down a large portion of Columbia Street to help people stay safe.
Food was plentiful throughout the event, with many food trucks that served the attendees everything from poutine to Asian cuisine. Later in the evening, a beer tent sponsored by local breweries opened up to the delight of many of those attending. The variety of food and drink showcased the diverse group of people that make up not just the Waterloo community, but Canada as a country.
Keeping with the diversity theme, there was also a variety of events for all ages. The Tool was present and anyone attending could get a chance to take a picture with it. The Engineering Society also had a water slide, hula hoops and many other activities that anyone could participate in. Other smaller events included face painting, a Blackberry Demo truck and lots and lots of bouncy castles.
On a larger scale, there was a massive stage set up that featured a variety of acts. Of note on the non-musical side, there was a Timbit eating contest that initially featured five University of Waterloo students competing against each other. After a winner was declared, competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi took the Timbit challenge and ate 85 Timbits in two minutes. After this, the main stage featured the indie band Hollerado, and Canadian folk band Spirit of the West. Both bands played to an excited crowd, and Spirit of the West’s finale, “Home For a Rest” had the crowd going wild.
All of this excitement led up to the big finale of the evening, a massive fireworks display over Columbia Lake. The display went on for over 20 minutes and featured everything from traditional fireworks to smiley faces and hearts. People were seated across all open stretches of grass surrounding the lake and it was clear that this was the big event of the evening.
Canada Day in Waterloo is definitely not an event to be missed. It has great food, music, activities and, most importantly, an amazing fireworks show.
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