It begins tonight, and ends with the eagerly awaited fireworks show over Porcupine Lake
The much-anticipated weekend of activities and fun is back.
The South Porcupine Winter carnival kicks off tonight (Feb. 10) and runs until Sunday, Feb. 12 with fireworks over Porcupine Lake.
The organizers look forward to a change in the location of this year’s event.
Northern College is hosting the majority of the activities instead of being spread throughout the community.
“We’re hoping that people can go there and hunker down for the day,” said Joanne Hagger-Perritt.
“We’ve got stuff all over the college, plus the college itself will have its cafeteria open and offering pretty much their regular menu for the weekend.”
Classics like penny bingo, penny bingo, laser tag or virtual reality games can be expected, along with carnival-style games such as inflatables and carnival games. The cafeteria will remain open all weekend, and the pub will host a craft display.
“And we’ve really gone all out this year with our inflatables and a fantastic partnership with AB Promotions from Kirkland Lake,” she said.
Hundreds of people attend the winter carnival every weekend.
Hagger-Perritt said that a committee of six people organizes the event year round and that an “army of volunteers” helps out.
“There’s a lot of international students who are very excited about the carnival and who are also offering to volunteer … so that’s been really, really terrific. Roland Michener always provides food and support for the young volunteers. We get an army of about 90 volunteers over the course of the weekend to help run the activities,” she said.
Some activities have a small cost, but the majority are funded by South Porcupine Pride. Jackpot City provides the majority of the funds. Every second week, volunteers host a bingo session. The group is entitled to a portion of bingo profits.
One of the biggest projects we have, of course, is winter carnival so that’s where the majority of our funds go into children’s games, children’s activities, renting those bouncers and certainly paying for those fireworks,” she said.
You can also donate throughout the year. If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to Hagger Perrity via Facebook messenger.
“We’re actively looking for people to assist with our bingos every second week. It’s a 2-hour, 15-minute commitment every second week, but we have to actively recruit at this point because we some issues that will be holding people away from the slots that they normally volunteer for. We’re really, really looking to have some more people help us out,” she said.
Here’s the complete schedule of events on the weekend:
