The Flying Canoe Adventure/Flying Canoe Volant features an illuminated walk through Mill Creek Ravine. Lanterns of multiple shapes and colours light the way.
Artwork from numerous local artists also appears throughout the trail. Themes of shapes, colours, and light penetrated the darkness.
A stage featuring French Canadian music is at the heart of the ravine, as well as two teepees offering tea and bannock.
Of course, one must also beware the wolves, which run throughout the trail howling at potential victims (I unfortunately was not able to get a clear shot of the “wolves” but their eyes were glowing like the letters on the sign).
People dressed up as lost canoeists tell the tale of the flying canoe to visitors. According to lore, the legend of la chasse-gallerie (flying canoe) is about a rich nobleman named Gallery who loved to hunt so much that he refused to attend Sunday mass. As punishment for this sin he was condemned to fly forever through the night skies, chased by galloping horses and howling wolves. When French settlers arrived in Canada, they swapped stories with the First Nations and the tale of Gallery was combined with an Aboriginal legend about a flying canoe.
More entertainment and activities took place in Edmonton’s French quarter at La Cite Francophone. A horse-drawn wagon brought people back and forth between the two sites.
