Amherst Island could host its own winter carnival one day soon.
Upon collecting over 200 responses from their census this year, the Amherst Island Community Alliance (AICA) noted a fair amount of public interest in an outdoor festival on the island during winter.
While attending a Great Lakes Islands Alliance (GLIA) meeting, the AICA heard from and island who hosts a winter carnival, and it helped spark the idea. AICA board member Kirk Corkery explains where they got the idea in the first place.
“One of them has got a winter carnival weekend they’ve been running for, like, 50 some-odd years, and we thought that would be kind of fun to do here,” said Corkery.
There has never been a winter carnival on Amherst Island. Such a carnival could see attractions and community activities such as snow mobile races, and snow-man building contests. The AICA asked residents specifically about the winter carnival idea on their recent census and whether or not residents would be interested in attending and/or helping with the carnival.
Corkery noted the high amount of interest from those responses.
“We tested the waters to see if people were interested, and there was quite a lot of interest; Like a third of the people said ‘yes,'” said Corkery.
If the idea gains more traction, it’s something the AICA could bring forward to Loyalist Township council for proposal. It may include planning, infrastructure updates, and potential funding – approval from council would be necessary before any other steps may be taken.
