Dutch Tulip Festival Ottawa - 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Holland - Thurs 07 - Sun 10 May 2015. Canadian Re-Enactors and Military Vehicles wanted to participate. Canadian re-enactors and periodic military vehicle owners are invited to attend the Dutch Tulip Festival to be held in Ottawa, Ontario - Thurs 07 - Sun 10 May 2015. Meals will be provided by flying kitchens at no cost. If you are interested in attending, please contact Gene Michaud at [email protected] to express your interest. Military Vehicle owners should contact Jeff Mosher at [email protected] A Coy 1st Cdn Para Btn participated in this event in 2014 and had thousands of people including tour buses coming from the US view their exhibits. This is shaping up to be a great event. A recent email from one of the organizers about the event is as follows: On Thursday, December 11th, 2014 there was a meeting at the Bytown Gunners Museum in Ottawa. The members of the local military re-enactment and Historic Military Vehicle (HMV) communities met to discuss plans with two representatives of the Canadian Tulip Festival. The following represents some notes that I took at the event. Caution should be exercised as these are just preliminary discussions. Basically we are in fact finding mode at the moment. We need to know who wants to come, what they’re bringing, what flatbed transportation will cost if it is a large MV, and how much space and food they will need. Chain of command: Gene Michaud. has come onboard as the re-enactor organizer, and Jeff Mosher will continue to be the HMV organizer. For the purposes of this exercise, all communication regarding re-enactors should flow through Gene, and all communication for HMV should flow through Jeff. All communication of a general administrative nature should also flow through Jeff. Jeff will be the sole point of contact with the steering committee of the Canadian Tulip Festival. I will be providing general communiqué to the Ottawa Garrison consisting of the re-enactors and HMV communities related to the Canadian Tulip Festival. As other individuals or groups come forward, please send their e-mail details to me, so that they can be added to my e-mail list for this event. 2014 Event -The public feedback for the re-enactment display at the Canadian Tulip Festival in 2014 was very positive. The numbers of tour buses that came from the USA was up considerably last year, and the tour operators are planning more tours for 2015. -The feedback from last year was the living history displays that permitted the general public to handle, touch and interact with the displays and the re-enactors were well received. Hands on displays of original equipment that youth were able to touch, feel, and put on, were deemed to be best to engage todays youth. This living history education approach is strongly encouraged. 2015 Event - The key dates for the re-enactors will be Friday May 8th, Saturday May 9th, and Sunday, May 10th, 2015 with a set up day on Thursday, May 7th, 2015. - The re-enactment camp will be located at Queen Juliana Park opposite the Dows Lake Pavilion. This will provide more space than what we had in May 2014. -The re-enactor and HMV communities need to identify their space and power requirements for display purposes. Camping on site with period appropriate tents and some cold war style CF/DND sectional tents is permitted. -The radio communications re-enactors will have to identify space, tent, power and antenna requirements for a safe installation. - Shower access to be confirmed. -Breakfast, lunch, dinners and water provided. -Inquires will be made for safe compound storage of vehicle trailers at an alternate site, during the duration of the encampment. -The Merickville Motor Pool has offered access to a secure storage compound for HMV, near Merickville for vehicles and equipment that are pre-positioned prior to the event. -The Merrickville Motor Pool has offered the use of its mobile power generation capability. Budget to be prepared for the cost of operation of the generators (fuel/oil, etc). To be confirmed. -The Merrickville Motor Pool has offered the use of its military kitchen trailers for feeding of the re-enactors and HMV participants on site. Budget to be prepared for the food trailer, cook and staff fuel and food supplies. To be confirmed. -Approvals will be requested for the use of blank ammunition by re-enactors for display purposes. This will also include the field guns. Budgets will have to be submitted ASAP and approved. The event will be supervised by licensed pyrotechnics professionals. The use is still subject by approval by multiple levels of authorities in Ottawa. -HMV groups or museums bringing in heavy or multiple items that will require floating items, that will have transportation and fuel costs will have to prepare budget estimates ASAP for prior approval. -While the focus will be on re-enactment of WWII and the liberation of Holland, there was no objection to the inclusion of HMV up to and including Canadian cold war period vehicles. This provides an opportunity for the general public to compare and contrast how Canadian military equipment has evolved since WWII. -All of the re-enactor signs and HMV signs must be prepared in both official languages. If required, translation services can be provided by?. This is a good opportunity to update your print information that you can use for future events that you participate in. (I know I would like some tips on what sort of information that I should prepare for my own vehicles). The following two items are my own observations and interpretations: - It is in the best interest of the re-enactors and HMV community to identify any issues that may require the Canadian Tulip Festival to negotiate on our behalf, before the event. They will be sitting down with all the various authorities in the Ottawa region to confirm approvals for everything. The best example is the use of blank ammunition for re-enactors and the artillery. If you are not sure, ask to see what will and will not be allowed. Public safety is paramount. - The re-enactment encampment is only one of many other events that are being planned for the Canadian Tulip Festival. The more work that we can do up front for the organizing committee regarding budget preparation, space requirements and special approvals, the greater chance of success. The following is from Jeff ...... I’ve attached an aerial photo of Dows Lake, Queen Juliana Park (where we’ll be) is circled in red. The 18 wheelers parked in the center give a good scale reference, plus prove that heavy vehicles have been in there before. Our previous display area is circled in yellow. Cheers, Jeff You can see by the site photo that the re-enactment encampment will have access to considerably more space in May 2015, as compared to may 2014. The WWII radio re-enactment group has already expressed interest in the area along the tree line for the installation of radio communications equipment and antennas. Their plan is to install a complete operational WWII radio communication station, and operate the historic radio equipment on amateur radio frequencies. Cheers! Stuart Fedak
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:38:40 +0000
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