Page 76 - 2022-2023 Travel Guide to Canada

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Special Events
JANUARY – FEBRUARY
• FROSTIVAL, FREDERICTON
MARCH
• MAPLE, THE FIRST TASTE OF SPRING,
KINGS LANDING, PRINCE WILLIAM
JUNE
• ST. MARY’S (SITANSISK) FIRST NATION
POWWOW, FREDERICTON
JUNE – JULY
• CAMPBELLTON SALMON FESTIVAL
JULY
• AREA 506 FESTIVAL, SAINT JOHN
• CANADA’S IRISH FESTIVAL, MIRAMICHI
• LAMÈQUE INTERNATIONAL BAROQUE
MUSIC FESTIVAL
• NEW BRUNSWICK HIGHLAND GAMES
FESTIVAL, FREDERICTON
• SHEDIAC LOBSTER FESTIVAL
AUGUST
• CHOCOLATE FEST, ST. STEPHEN
• FESTIVAL ACADIEN DE CARAQUET
• MIRAMICHI FOLKSONG FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER
• ATLANTIC BALLOON FIESTA, SUSSEX
• HARVEST JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL,
FREDERICTON
https://tourismnewbrunswick.ca/
festivals-events
FORT BEAUSÉJOUR • PARKS CANADA
since the Loyalists sailed in. Evidence is
found in its 18th century waterside sites and
the grand edifices erected by later seafarers
during the “Golden Age of Sail.” The harbour’s
significance is further apparent in Market
Square, a museum and entertainment
complex fashioned from waterfront
warehouses, and the City Market which was
built by shipwrights. Even the Harbour
Passage Trail and Harbour Station arena are
named in its honour (www.discoversaint
john.com).
Straddling the muddy Petitcodiac River,
Greater Moncton has surpassed Saint John to
become the province’s most populous urban
centre. Originally nicknamed the “Hub City”
by virtue of its central location, it now
doubles as a hub of tourist activity because
Greater Moncton is home to attractions like
the Magic Mountain Water Park, Casino New
Brunswick and Magnetic Hill which, in
addition to the eponymous hill, boasts a
popular zoo, winery and amphitheatre
(www.moncton.ca).
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
New Brunswick is blessed with superlative
natural attractions: the world’s highest tides,
some of the oldest mountains and second
biggest whirlpool. These sites are, quite
literally, phenomenal. Yet what makes the
outdoors truly “great” is that it has
something for everyone. The Fundy Trail—
known for its precipitous cliffs, aromatic
evergreens and sublime views—is a case in
point (www.fundytrailparkway.com).
Ultra-fit hikers can spend days traversing
this part of the Trans Canada Trail. But,
thanks to an adjacent parkway, key portions
are accessible to children and the physically
challenged, too.
Equally important is the fact that nature
in New Brunswick is always close at hand,
even in urban areas. Visitors to Saint John
can splash out in Rockwood Park, one of the
largest municipal parks in the country, or go
wild by the seaside in the Irving Nature Park
without leaving the city limits. Fresh air
aficionados in Fredericton, similarly, can
stroll, bike and rollerblade on a riverfront
path dubbed “The Green” or get out on the
water by boat. Moncton, meanwhile, puts
sand connoisseurs in reach of both the
delicate Bouctouche dunes and bustling
Parlee Beach.
HERITAGE AND CULTURE
Occupied by Indigenous Peoples for more
than 3,000 years, New Brunswick inherited
two other cultures from its early French and
English settlers. Indoor/outdoor venues
such as Metepenagiag Heritage Park, Village
Historique Acadien and Kings Landing
Historical Settlement—celebrating
Mi’kmaq, Acadians and Loyalists, respec-
tively—help establish the historical context,
as does the engaging New Brunswick
Museum in Saint John. Local culture here,
however, is a living entity that survives
outside museum-like settings.
Eclectic artisans, many of them con-
centrated around Fredericton, put a
contemporary spin on age-old crafts.
Poets and playwrights uphold a rich literary
tradition, performing in coffee houses and
theatres. Musicians thrive as well, which
explains why, along with almost every
imaginable form of modern music, you can
hear hypnotic First Nations drumbeats,
British folk songs and Cajun-style fiddles
in pubs and at concerts or festivals
province-wide.
MUST SEE, MUST DO
Hopewell Cape’s tree-tufted islands always
look lovely, but their full beauty is only
revealed when the tide ebbs, transforming
them into megaliths looming above the bare
ocean floor (www.thehopewellrocks.ca).