FIREFEST

Firefest rolls onto the Dwight Beach every August long weekend, and what a party it is! The fun starts about five o'clock, kicked off by the sensational Northern Lights Steel Band. This is a sensational group -- based in (wait for it) Sprucedale, Ontario, with a rich Caribbean sound. Anyone can join, and the band is dedicated to teaching the steel pan. Steel pans were originally created in Trinidad & Tobago following WWII. It is the only acoustical (percussive) instrument developed in the twentieth century. And is it ever fun to listen to. If these folks -- and the musicians range in age from about 8 to about 78 -- don't get you jumping, you should get your pulse checked.

The whole beachfront of Dwight is closed for the party. Balloons, draws, a bbq, and cotton candy, not to mention glow sticks add to the fun. The shallow sandy beach means there are always kids splashing and swimming while they wait for the fireworks.

Nora took her dad Jamie to hear the band and watch the fireworks, and while she was there, she had her first ever taste of cotton candy. (Mom stayed home at BONDI with Nora's brand new sister, so there was a window of opportunity to taste pure sugar!)

The fireworks put on as a fundraiser by the Lake of Bays Volunteer Fire Deparment, with the help of a very generous sponsor, are really impressive. The bay is full of the twinkling lights on the boats that come to watch. The beach is a whirl of glow sticks and excited kids. And the sky is ablaze with the shattering sound and colours of top notch fireworks.

And, when the last of the fireworks stopped echoing off the surrounding hills, and the lights went out, the sky was so clear you could almost touch the stars.