Kejimkujik has become a Thanksgiving family tradition for so many that it is one of the park’s busiest weekends of the year. Most campsites are booked by July. Visitors cook their Thanksgiving feasts on camp fires and enjoy the rich fall colours of Kejimkujik as their backdrop. The additional lure for visitors is the incredible programming and the thrill of a challenge.
The Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest is a huge hit, and people’s creativity shines. Pumpkin villages or scenes are crafted. It is said that if less than half a dozen pumpkins are carved; it is probably not enough to be in the running for the prize.
For those interested in less manual labour, on Saturday night, Parks Canada and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) invite visitors to drop by the Sky Circle for International Observe the Moon Night. Between 7p.m. and 10p.m., volunteers from RASC will help visitors observe the splendour of the moon and of Kejimkujik's pristine night sky through telescopes. And at 8p.m., there will be a 1.5 hour night hike to explore the forest by the light of the moon.
Haunted Hikes, with the help of a local theatre group, will be a fantastic scare. Perhaps even scarier is the Annual Cold Turkey Dip, on Sunday morning. This is based on a cold turkey swim done in 1908, captured in the book "The Tent Dwellers".
The weekend will culminate at the Outdoor Amphitheatre and the Annual Thanksgiving Weekend Awards Gala where winners of the pumpkin carving contest and the Friends of Keji Photo Contest are announced.
Parks Canada thanks Canadians for their visits to the sites and parks and their support of Parks Canada. In 2011, Parks Canada is celebrating its 100th birthday as the world’s first national parks service. To recognize this occasion, Parks Canada is inviting Canadians to come celebrate at its places across the country. For more information about special centennial events and regular activities, please visit www.parkscanada.gc.ca/keji or www.twitter.com/ParksCanada_NS
