A regular summer event in Niagara is Floatfest. This free event draws people to the Welland Canal to enjoy a day floating around in the water, soaking up the sun, and just relaxing.
Ashore, bands play. Vendors ply their trade. Music and smells from food trucks drift across the water. From mid morning until late afternoon, thousands of people inflate their inflatables either by hand or using one of the free inflation stations, then push off the public docks and just. Float.
As well as shuttle buses and parking marshalls the City provides a couple of seadoos to patrol the water and cover for any emergencies. These do double duty to tow floaters back down stream when the current takes them too far to comfortably paddle. They are kept busy. Floatfest attracts thousands. The sight of a hundred or more inflatables being pulled together as a single unit is impressive. Holding on to a nearby boat is a great way to meet people, too. And I know from experience it is easier than rowing.
Nikki and I have a four person boat. It carries the two of us as well as my camera gear and enough food and drink to allow us to stay out for the whole day. We usually take umbrellas to keep off the midday sun. Others have one person life rings around their waists. Still others have family size floating platforms that hold ten. It’s a mix of people from all walks of life, doing something free, just for the fun of it.
The man pulling this boat wanted to get back upstream and did not want to wait for the seadoo to come by. He jumped in and started swimming, much to the evident glee of the girl yelling at him to go faster. This image, taken from our own inflatable as they drew close, encapsulates the fun and chaos of the event for me. Floatfest is a lot of fun.
Prints and products for all images by request.
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