(article publié initialement dans TOURISME)
It was the sort of circumstance that brings out the best in Londoners. A car bomb is located near Trafalgar Square, and all of a sudden, the organizers of Canada Day in London on the early morning of June 29 are asking themselves if it wouldn’t be wiser to cancel the celebrations, recalls managing director of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) office in theUK, Maggie Davison.
“We weren’t sure whether Canada Day was going forward or not, but decided we weren’t going to let mere terrorists put the day off," remembers Davison. "The emergency services were amazing; police activity was cranked up and we were a 'go'.”
With the unforeseen four hour delay on the setup, the CTC and all its collaborators got to work. “They had shut off all the electricity in the Square at four o'clock in the morning. We had planned an overnight build, and there was no light or power to finish the staging and rigging, but we pushed to get ready for noon.
“It was an amazing day. Even if many people stayed away from central London because of the bomb scare, the Greater London Authority estimated the attendance was better than last year. I would estimate that about 40,000 people attended the event. Everybody was very watchful. Going ahead was a huge decision to have to make: ‘There is a bomb on the corner – do you really continue with the celebration?’”
It was evidently the right decision to make and it certainly gave participating Brits, wanderers and international visitors who happened to be on Trafalgar Square that day a taste of everything Canadian, notes Davison: “We had everything from bison burgers to our own beer. We had a shinny hockey tournament featuring a team whose members hail from a Dene Nation which claims to have played the first game of hockey in Canada’s history, and we had an amazing concert in the evening. The Square was absolutely rocking with all new and emerging talent from Canada, like the Sam Roberts Band.”
Davison feels Canada Day in London succeeded in putting a younger image on Canada for UK citizens to discover. “One that is more progressive, more innovative, fun and exciting,” she says. “We received great media coverage, considering that the news of the day was the terrorist threat.”
Not only was Canada’s honour as an event host safe in the end – it could also be said that Canada helped keep heads cool on what might have been a very tumultuous day, had events unfolded otherwise. Canada Day in London turned out to be a more significant statement of “hip”, it seems, just by embracing the wildly unexpected.
It was the sort of circumstance that brings out the best in Londoners. A car bomb is located near Trafalgar Square, and all of a sudden, the organizers of Canada Day in London on the early morning of June 29 are asking themselves if it wouldn’t be wiser to cancel the celebrations, recalls managing director of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) office in theUK, Maggie Davison.
“We weren’t sure whether Canada Day was going forward or not, but decided we weren’t going to let mere terrorists put the day off," remembers Davison. "The emergency services were amazing; police activity was cranked up and we were a 'go'.”
With the unforeseen four hour delay on the setup, the CTC and all its collaborators got to work. “They had shut off all the electricity in the Square at four o'clock in the morning. We had planned an overnight build, and there was no light or power to finish the staging and rigging, but we pushed to get ready for noon.
“It was an amazing day. Even if many people stayed away from central London because of the bomb scare, the Greater London Authority estimated the attendance was better than last year. I would estimate that about 40,000 people attended the event. Everybody was very watchful. Going ahead was a huge decision to have to make: ‘There is a bomb on the corner – do you really continue with the celebration?’”
It was evidently the right decision to make and it certainly gave participating Brits, wanderers and international visitors who happened to be on Trafalgar Square that day a taste of everything Canadian, notes Davison: “We had everything from bison burgers to our own beer. We had a shinny hockey tournament featuring a team whose members hail from a Dene Nation which claims to have played the first game of hockey in Canada’s history, and we had an amazing concert in the evening. The Square was absolutely rocking with all new and emerging talent from Canada, like the Sam Roberts Band.”
Davison feels Canada Day in London succeeded in putting a younger image on Canada for UK citizens to discover. “One that is more progressive, more innovative, fun and exciting,” she says. “We received great media coverage, considering that the news of the day was the terrorist threat.”
Not only was Canada’s honour as an event host safe in the end – it could also be said that Canada helped keep heads cool on what might have been a very tumultuous day, had events unfolded otherwise. Canada Day in London turned out to be a more significant statement of “hip”, it seems, just by embracing the wildly unexpected.
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