Gimli has a new park to show off just days before the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba is to begin and while tourists and fans flock to the lakefront town for the 2017 Canada Summer Games.
Viking Park is built around the famous Viking statue in the community.
Paved pathways around the park are inscribed with commemorative messages and greetings from people in the community who donated to make the park a reality.
“A visit to the park will provide a diverse, accessible and memorable visitor experience to 200,000 locals and tourists who come to see the Viking and view the inland sea every year,” said Kathi Thorarinson Neal, co-chair of the Viking Park campaign and past president of the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba.
The pathways take visitors through three different gardens filled with Indigenous plants, grasses and flowers — the Troll Storm Garden, the Elf Garden, and the Breakwater Garden — designed by HTFC Planning & Design.
The Viking statue was erected in 1967 by the Gimli Chamber of Commerce. A public opening of the park is scheduled for Saturday, August 5 (noon to 2 p.m.) to help celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary.
The 128th Icelandic Festival of Manitoba – Islendingadagurinn runs from August 4-7.
