THUNDER BAY— Community members enjoyed a festival day with activities and a swim at a south-side pool.
The Art Widnall Pool Festival Day took place on Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., with approximately 100 families enjoying the activities despite some brief rain.
“So far, I think we have seen probably about 80 to 100 people come through the door, and we're expecting anywhere from like 200 to 450,” said Chloe Watson, facility operator.
One of the community members enjoying the event was Abigail Carr.
“It's super fun. We went down the slides a lot and then we dove for the fish in the pool,” she said.
The annual event is something all community members and employees enjoy, Watson said.
Aquatic facility operators sell treats and candies at the pool's front desk throughout the summer to be able to put on the festival.
Treats, face painting, a BBQ and games were hosted by pool staff.
“The city provides us with a budget for hot dogs every year, so they help provide the food, and then we will have the barbecue going in a little bit and so hopefully everyone can get some food into them today, and then later on we'll have some cotton candy and a cake as well,” she said.
Some of the festival games included a scavenger hunt, fishing games and other land-based games, Watson said.
“We are super lucky here at Widnall to have the park as well, and we can utilize that space so that we can have some water-based activities and some not to hopefully be inclusive to all community members, as not everyone wants to be in the water the whole time,” she said.
Among the games, a fishing pool was opened for the event in the recently closed wading pool with assistance from an extra lifeguard.
“We are using the wading pool today to have like a little fishing pond set up, and then based on like the most accurate or farthest or most fish caught, there are different prizes to go with those,” Watson said.
All of the games at the festival have an assortment of prizes available for community members to win, Watson said.
Despite the variety of games, food and prizes, for Carr, the best part of the day was playing with her friend and little sister.
“I love swimming in the deep end with my sister because she's just getting better at swimming right now, but she's doing a good job,” Carr said. “She likes the life jackets.”
