A large portion of a main thoroughfare in Sylvan Lake was temporarily transformed into a giant slip-and-slide on Saturday.
Slide the City — complete with its 1,000-foot-long slip-and-slide, live music and plenty of smiling faces — hit 50 Street (Centennial Street) for the day, and attracted town residents and visitors by the hundreds.
All in all, organizers say about 1,800 registrations were recorded in advance of the event, with an estimated hundreds more carried out on site.
But it was more than just the numbers that made the event’s Sylvan Lake stop a successful one, according to event director Andrew Lacanienta. Seeing so many people having such a good time, he assured, made it all worthwhile.
“It’s just a good time for everybody, and with the music and the food trucks, it just makes it an all-around fun place to be,” he said, adding he never ceases to be amazed by the enormity of the event.
“Everyone played on a slip-and-slide when they were kids, but it was like 10 or maybe 15 feet long. The fact that it’s a 1,000-foot-long by 24-foot-wide slip-and-slide is just incredible.”
Lacanienta said the town proved a most welcoming host of the event, commending Town of Sylvan Lake special events and programming co-ordinator Michelle Morrison in particular for her role in bringing it to town.
“She did a lot of footwork in getting it here,” he said.
He encourages Lakers to keep an eye on the event’s schedule for the next summer season, as another Canadian tour is expected to take place. Details of dates and locations haven’t yet been confirmed.
“Look for it in the future, have a good time, be safe and have fun.”