Music in the park

In Major's Hill Park (Tulip Festival photo)

Sorry to say we'll be gone by the coming weekend that will be the start of Ottawa's Tulip Festival. It promises to be a good festival this year, featuring plenty of music making by the local choirs, bands and orchestras, as well as dancing, etc., especially in Major's Hill Park, the "main activity site" for the festival. This year's tulips aren't out yet, but some flower buds are starting to show a little colour.

The promontory where the park lies overlooks the inlet where the Rideau Canal flows into the Ottawa River and this high ground was once the home of Lieutenant-Colonel John By who masterminded the construction of the Canal in the 1820s. It was called Colonel's Hill in those days. Later, the lockmaster's house stood here, demolished in 1876 when the hill finally turned into a public park.

View from the Ottawa River, 1834, with Major's Hill on the left

There's nothing new in people enjoying musical entertainment in this park. In the nineteenth century it was used for the same kind of recreations.

My photo of a picture displayed in today's park