Thousands expected at Moosomin Regional Park: Living Skies Come Alive this weekend

July 29, 2014, 1:56 am
Kristen Weedmark

The skies over Moosomin Lake will come alive with fireworks this weekend as the fifth annual Living Skies Come Alive fireworks competition gets under way Saturday and Sunday August 2 and 3 at Moosomin Regional Park.

Some of the events that will be held during the weekend will be children’s game, bouncers, face painting, pontoon rides, beer gardens, a dance, suppers, a ball tournament, a canoe tug-of-war, an Idol Contest, a fiddle contest, and a car show.

There was some question whether the fireworks would go ahead this year because of high water levels at Moosomin Lake. The area where fireworks are normally shot off from—right across the lake from the main beach—was under water.

“What makes the show really good, is setting the fireworks off pretty much level with the lake. And on the other side of the lake, the water was so high that the little beach area and the grassy area was totally under water,” said Michele Shaw of the Lake Board. “Now since then, because the water that’s going over the dam has reduced by a lot, the beach has shown up enough that the fireworks guys said that they can go there.”

“Unfortunately the water caused a little bit of problems for everybody,” said Shaw. “The flooding really just postponed things.”

“I think that the flooding has really affected the people at the park. The campground is full, but there aren’t as many people around, and I think that’s because everyone is dealing with their own water issues elsewhere,” said Shaw.

According to Shaw, the fireworks event is the most important weekend for the Park.

“It’s our chance to showcase what a beautiful park we have, and how close it is to Moosomin. The fireworks show is awesome in itself, but what’s more important is that the people who come here get to see our facility, and hopefully they’ll come back to enjoy camping, that’s the ultimate goal.”

“The flooding has definitely affected how many people have come forward and said that they’d give us a hand. We are looking desperately for volunteers to help out,” said Shaw.

“I think that, because of the water, people didn’t enter because they weren’t sure whether we would be going ahead.”“We are also looking for entries for both the Idol Contest and the Fiddling Contest. We’re hoping that some of those entries come through, because those are the people that make the show worthwhile.”

Advance tickets are also available for the first time this year. “To get in the park in the evening, it’s a long, long wait. So we decided that as an incentive to have some people buy tickets early, they might come in early, and it might make coming through the gate quicker, that we’d offer advance tickets.”

The advance tickets are available at a number of locations in Moosomin, or at the Park Store.

Anyone looking to camp out at the lake after the show will have to stay in the overflow campsites, since all serviced sites are already full.

“Overflow campsites are on a first come first served basis, so they don’t have to phone in to reserve,” said Shaw.

Anyone interested in volunteering a few hours of their time, or in taking part in the Idol or Fiddle contest, can call the lake store at 306-435-3531 and speak to Wyatt Shaw, or email Michele Shaw at mshaw@flbsd.mb.ca. There is also a sign up list hanging in the park store.