Fort Anne, Port Royal Plan Events

Big year ahead for Fort Anne, Port Royal

By GLEN PARKER
Tue. May 25 - 4:53 AM
This is a special year for Parks Canada’s Fort Anne and Port Royal National Historic Sites.

Celebrations this summer will include the 400th anniversary of the baptism of Grand Chief Membertou on June 24 at Port Royal and A Heritage Snapshot on Aug. 29 at Fort Anne.

"It’s a busy time of year for us right now with school groups visiting the parks," said Lillian Stewart, National Historic Site manager for Fort Anne and Port Royal. "The events planned for this summer are pretty exciting."

The season opened May 15.

The two sites are minutes apart in the Annapolis Royal area. Last year, Fort Anne had 30,650 visitors and Port Royal 22,230, Stewart said.

The loss of the Cat ferry running from Maine to Yarmouth will likely adversely affect those numbers this year, but Stewart said Parks Canada is making an effort to increase visitation from the Halifax region.

"We know a lot of our visitors come from the U.S. but we don’t track how they come," Stewart said. "Halifax is an important market for us. It’s close, two hours and 15 minutes away. We’ve participated in trade shows like the Saltscapes East Coast Expo in Halifax with an effort to raise awareness."

The Fort Anne and Port Royal National Historic Sites are open daily from May 15 to Oct. 15. For more information on this year’s special events, visit www.parkscanada.gc.ca/fortanne.

( gparker@herald.ca)