There are road trips to be had right here at home this March Break as the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) Recreation Department has announced the full March Break Staycation component of their Taste of Winter festival. From Friday, March 9th, through Sunday, March 18th, the calendar will be chock full with activities including swimming, curling, bowling, laser tag, and more.
Kicking off the week will be a concert from Juno Award winning performers William Prince and Digging Roots at the Sarah Denny Cultural Centre in Eskasoni. William Prince is storytelling singer-songwriter from Peguis First Nation who sidesteps cliches to provoke thought and facilitate discovery. His baritone vocals pay tribute to his late father and his genuine delivery acknowledges the hundreds of hours he’s spent on stage. Lat year was a good one for William, who’s been called “Canada’s next big songwriter”. He won the 2017 Juno for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, and spent the summer performing at a dozen or more folk festivals all across Canada including the CBC Music Festival. Digging Roots is a Juno Award winning rock and blues group built around husband and wife duo Raven Kanetakta and ShoShona Kish. The pair has built their sound on a unique musical marriage of unvarnished truth and unconditional love; opening fire on hate, oppression, and violence. The concert will take place Friday, March 9th at 6pm, and admission is free.
Taste of Winter has a lot of fun to offer for a March Break Staycation. Take in a free swim at the Northside Community Pool (March 10 • 2:30pm) or the Kiwanis Pool (March 12 • 11am), Learn to Curl (< 16) at the Schooner Curling Club (March 15 • 11am), or bowl a string at the Strand Bowling Lanes in Sydney Mines (March 15 • 1pm). Enjoy the outdoors with Horse Drawn Wagon Rides at the Carmen Young Track in North Sydney (March 11 • 12pm) and the John Bernard Croak Dam Trail in Glace Bay (March 18 • 12pm), or take aim with Outdoor Laser Tag at the Our Lady of Fatima Field in Sydney River (March 11 • 1pm) and Colliery Lands Park in New Waterford (March 17 • 1pm). Arrange a shopping outing at the Mayflower Mall to coincide with the Youth in Music Songwriters’ Circle (March 13 • 6pm) or Taste of Winter Craft Day (March 17 • 11am). Or maybe you just want to curl up with a bag of popcorn for the Taste of Winter Movie Night (March 15 • 6pm), with The Incredibles hitting the big screen at Centre 200.
“March Break is about family fun, and our team has built a schedule that allows families to take advantage of things happening right here at home,” says Recreation Program Coordinator Joe Costello. “There’s a lot to do and see, and we hope you find a new location or a new activity on the way.”
Taste of Winter is a winter festival presented by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Recreation Department. For full listings and details, visit tasteofwinter.ca.
