Culture

Traditions and celebrations

The Montreal International Fireworks Festival

The Winterlude Festival

This fireworks competition in July is one of the best tourist attractions. It lasts 30 minutes and it has music.

Winter is fun in Ottawa. You can go dog-sledding, skate on the biggest ice rink, go on the ice slides and enjoy hot apple drinks and beaver tails in Snowflake Kingdom. At night, coloured lights decorate the enormous ice sculptures at Crystal Garden.

The Calgary Stampede

The International Balloon Festival

You can feel the excitement of the Wild West for ten days in July as you watch the races of horses and big wagons. You can be a cowboy or cowgirl, see rodeos, exhibitions, fireworks and the Grandstand show, a spectacle of live music, dancers, acrobats and singers. There are also barrel races, rides and pancakes.

Every August, this festival in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, you can see 100 hot-air balloons in the sky. You can fly on a private plane to see them or watch them from the field below. There are many other attractions, rides, concerts and comedy shows.

Sports

Basketball

In 1891, James Naismith, a sports teacher, invented basketball, an indoor sport to keep his students active in winter. They threw a ball into a fruit basket on the wall. The most famous team is Toronto Raptors and they play in the NBA.

Ice Hookey

It is the most popular sport. The women’s team has won more gold medals in Olympic Games than the men’s team. Wayne Gretzky was a famous player who is considered a national hero.

Canadian Football

Two teams of 12 players try to get an oval-shaped ball into the goal area of the opposing team. Every year, millions of Canadians watch the teams from the Canadian Football League compete in the Grey Cup Championship.

Lacrosse

Two teams of 10 players use their sticks to carry, pass and get the ball to the goal area and score a goal. Their opponents can use their sticks to hit the ball away. Players can use their bodies, but not their hands, except the goalie.

Films

Food

Maple Syrup

The natives taught the first colonists to make maple syrup from the sap of the maple tree. Today, it is a symbol. It is used on top of pancakes.

Beaver tail

It is a thick fried pastry with cinnamon sugar on top. People eat it hot with sweet toppings.

Poutine

In Canada, French fries are not eaten with ketchup but with cheese and gravy.

Nanaimo Bars

This dessert comes from the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. It is custard with a coconut-biscuit base and chocolate on top. There are many varieties and you can try them following the Nanaimo Bar Trail through the city.

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