On July 1, 2017, the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C., hosted approximately 1000 fellow Canadians and friends of Canada to commemorate 150 years since the nation’s confederation.
Deputy Head of Mission Denis Stevens welcomed the crowd and reaffirmed Canada’s strong partnership and history of friendship with the U.S.
A spokesperson from the Embassy spoke with Global News stating, “Canadians love Americans and Americans love Canadians. We have a very strong relationship.”
Guests were also able to watch the live broadcast from Ottawa, featuring remarks by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
All good celebrations must of course have food! The Embassy served poutine alongside burgers and drinks provided by Molson and special edition Canada150 Coca-Cola cans.
Guests also enjoyed the photo-booth, lined for ice cream at a special truck, and played with 150 beach balls that were tossed off the Embassy roof.
New Brunswick’s Samantha Robichaud and friends performed live and the Embassy’s own Julia Eaddy sang the national anthem.
Celebrations got off to an early start in D.C. and the surrounding area. In June, Kathleen Edwards performed at the Birchmere in Virginia and multiple Juno award winner, Jane Bunnett performed with her band of Cuban musicians during the DC Jazz Festival – all to celebrate Canada150. Diana Krall was also in town at the Wolf Trap in Virginia. The National Gallery of Art, in cooperation with the National Film Board of Canada, Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre and Toronto International Film Festival featured seven cinematic landmarks from Canadian creators to salute Canada at 150 at the beginning of July – even showing Canadian films on July 4th! The AFI Silver Theatre in Maryland also honoured Canada150 with the launch of the Canada Now film series.
Cities all over America participated in festivities for Canada’s 150th. Various events across the U.S. included an annual Canadian flag-raising in San Jose, an outdoor Canada Day concert in Millennium Park in Chicago, a breakfast with Canada 150 Ambassador Alex Trebek in Los Angeles, and events hosted by Canada’s Consulate Generals in San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Denver, New York, Miami and Minneapolis. The Empire State Building in New York City and Denver’s City Hall were also lit up in red and white in honour of Canada 150.
People were able to interactively see and post events through Canada Day Across America and wish the country a personalized Happy Birthday.
To see more highlights from the day, visit Connect2Canada. For more photos, click here.