Ottawa 2017: Canada's sesquicentennial

[kevinbottawa]

I didn't see a thread for the Ottawa 2017 news so I'm starting one. I assume they'll be more news as 2017 approaches.

This event sounds pretty cool. Hope it becomes an annual event.

Picnic planned on Alexandra Bridge for 2017 party

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Sun

First posted: Monday, November 02, 2015 01:04 PM EST | Updated: Monday, November 02, 2015 01:18 PM EST

Grass will be laid across a steel bridge connecting Ottawa and Gatineau for a picnic in Canada’s 150th birthday year, the cities’ mayors announced Monday.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin actually ate together on the Alexandra Bridge to discuss the picnic, which will be held July 2, 2017.

The mayors “enjoyed a meal together featuring culinary favorites from each city, as they dined at a bistro table set on a patch of green grass, surrounded by the majestic views of the Ottawa River,” the 2017 office said in a news release.

Manderley Turf Products has committed to donating the sod for the “interprovincial picnic” in 2017. The bridge will be transformed into a park overnight. Groups will be assigned picnic spaces.

The sod will then be donated to local community organizations.

Organizers say they’re borrowing the idea from a 2009 tourism promotion in Sydney, Australia. About 6,000 people attended that event on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/11/02/picnic-planned-on-alexandra-bridge-for-2017-party