Residents have taken advantage of the Flin Flon Neighbourhood Revitalization Corporation’s (FFNRC) Flower Power festivals. The group has organized two different events in July and is planning two more for August. The most recent festival, themed around World Bubble Day, was held July 27 at Rotary Park.
Jacob Harvie has been organizing the festivals.
“The mandate of the revitalization corporation is to bring new life to the community and to bring up spirits and such, especially in the kind of lower income areas like uptown,” he said after the July 27 festival. “We just want to bring some fun and interactive kind of activities for people to be able to come to and enjoy the summer.”
The first Flower Power Festival took place July 13 at Pioneer Square, while the July 27 edition was held at Rotary Park. Harvie explained each location has its advantages.
“We like to use Pioneer Square since there’s the stage, it’s right by Main Street,” he said. “It draws people to support Main Street business, but Rotary Park is bigger, there’s fencing so that the kids can run around and be safe. There’s a covered area, so we can have some shade, especially when we have a really hot day like yesterday.”
Weather for both events was nearly perfect, with hot, sunny days providing families a chance to get out and enjoy the festivals.
“I got a little bit of a sunburn, definitely worth it, though,” Harvie said, laughing.
Festivities on July 27 were themed around bubbles. Harvie was initially hesitant to theme an event around bubbles, but was convinced by FFNRC executive director Laurence Gillespie to move forward with the theme.
“[Gillespie] is a fanatic for the bubbles,” Harvie said.
“He really believes in the power of the bubbles to entertain children. I was pretty skeptical. But he seems to have something right going on in his head because that it really works. Kids are really drawn to it.”
Other events July 27 besides bubble play included music, arts and crafts and free ice
cream to help cool off.
Harvie is a budding musician and even took to the stage himself to help entertain the crowd over the weekend.
“It’s been really fun to be able to put myself on the bill and not have to worry about begging anyone to play,” he said. Harvie graduated from Hapnot Collegiate in June, adding that the planning these events is giving him valuable experience.
“There’s a lot of list making and making sure that you’ve got everything,” he said.
“Otherwise, everything can go downhill pretty quick. Thankfully, we haven’t had any big catastrophes yet.”
The next edition of the Flower Power Festivals will be in Rotary Park Aug. 3 for another family day themed around dinosaurs. The final event of the summer will coincide with Flin Flon Pride.
