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Carnaval to mark French, Métis culture

Grab your tuques and get ready to celebrate Alberta’s French and Métis heritage at the Red Deer Carnaval, March 4 to 12.

Grab your tuques and get ready to celebrate Alberta’s French and Métis heritage at the Red Deer Carnaval, March 4 to 12.

The bilingual family festival will kick off with a cultural celebration at Bower Ponds on March 4 and 5. The two-day lineup of fiddlers, dancers, Métis arts and crafts, sugar shack, and games is being hosted by the Association canadienne-française de L’Alberta (ACFA) and the Métis Local 492.

The two groups are planning a bigger and better Carnaval this year that spreads out across the city as a fun way of raising awareness of Alberta’s francophone heritage.

For instance, who knew that this province, which still has 65,000 bilingual francophone citizens, also has French language ties that go back to 1740?

That’s when the La Vérendrye brothers set out to explore the West and reached the foot of the Rocky Mountains, said Raymond Morin, a board member with the ACFA.

In the centuries to come, Métis fur traders of French and aboriginal heritage criss-crossed what was to become this province. And furs and other artifacts will be displayed in a trapper’s tent at Bower Ponds, said Myrtle Beaulieu, president of the Métis Local 492.

Considering the linked history of the French and Métis, Beaulieu believes it was natural for the ACFA and the Métis local to join forces on this year’s Carnaval. As a symbol of the partnership, one of the performing duos will be a French-Canadian fiddler and a Métis dancer.

Everyone is invited to attend. More than 1,500 students from the region are expected to be at the opening ceremony at Bower Ponds, on Friday, March 4, at 10 a.m.

A pancake breakfast will be served on Saturday, March 5, from 8 to 10:30 a.m.

Breakfast is $5 per person. Pea soup and bannock will be among the food items that can also be purchased.

Admission to the Bower Ponds festivities is free, but to access the games and activities people must wear a Red Deer Carnaval tag that can be purchased at the Collicut Centre, the Recreation Centre, G.H. Dawe Community Centre, the ACFA at 4930B Ross St. or at the Carnaval sites. Tags are $5 each.

Other francophone-related activities will run through March 12 at Great Chief Park, the Red Deer Public Library, CrossRoads Church, as well as other locations.

Among them is story time and a movie at the Red Deer Public Library on Sunday, March 6, at 1:30 p.m. A potluck lunch at The Hub on Ross will be held on Wednesday, March 9, at 11:30 a.m.

The closing ceremony, on Saturday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m., will be at CrossRoads Church with a youth talent show and world music concert by Ouanani starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 each but anyone who has already purchased a $5 tag will get $10 off.

For more information, visit www.reddeercarnaval.com or www.carnavaldereddeer.com