Thousands attend final Kam River Heritage summer festival

When Noreen Dafoe saw the VIA Rail Canada cars, it brought back memories of trips she used to take when the passenger train came through Thunder Bay.

Dafoe said when she was younger her father Carl Schlyter would take her on the Via Rail train that passed through Thunder Bay.  A few years later those memories were brought back when she spotted the familiar train cars at the Kaministiquia River Heritage Park festival on Saturday.

She attended the festival with her 11-year-old-son Matthew and his friend 12-year-old Kristin Assad. She said she wanted to give her son the same experience she had when she was younger.

 “Being in Thunder Bay when are they going to get another opportunity like this,” Dafoe said. “My father is an avid train fan and I remember riding on the trains to Winnipeg and I thought this would be a great experience for (my son and his friend) to see what it is like.”

She added she would like to see the trains make a return stop in Thunder Bay.

The trains were just one attraction at the fair. Ships docked along the peer for visitors to look at. The Canadian Coast Guard and the Glenada Tug boat as well as ships from the HMCS Griffon had many eager children climbing aboard.

There were also live music from local bands that included the Greasy Creases, Dave Campbell and Unlike 18.

Jean-Paul De Roover, summer festivals and events coordinator with the city, said the festival gave everyone a chance to reconnect with an area of the city and that don’t normally visit.

The Kaministiquia River festival was officially the last city run event for the summer and De Roover said he was glad to blue skies and warm weather to wrap up the season.

“The festival has all kinds of different opportunities for kids and adults alike and allows for them to reconnect to different parts of our history that we don’t get to see very often,” De Roover said.

De Roover said he expected around 2,500 people to come to the fair throughout the day and added that the street fair on Victoria Avenue helped to bring even more people to the fair than last year.