There was something for everyone at Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day celebration on Calumet Island on Saturday.

The celebration of Quebec’s national holiday, organized by the Calumet Island Recreation Association, saw a drum ceremony and chair yoga in the morning, followed by various games and activities for adults and kids, an old car show, live music from local artists, and a fireworks show to cap off the party.

“Summer is the time to come out and enjoy the beautiful nature that we have,” said Stéphane Romain before beginning the summer solstice drum and smudge ceremony to kick off the day’s events.

“Every year our main goal is to have something for every age group,” said recreation association president Tyler La Salle, pointing out chair yoga, a new activity at this year’s party, as evidence of the group’s work to draw all generations to the event.

“Of course chair yoga is accessible to the elderly as well. We want to give them more activities and try and bring them out of their environment to socialize with other people.”

Missing from this year’s event was the local maple syrup competition, which was pulled from the roster because of a lack of volunteers.

“A shame because we had five producers who had donated to compete,” La Salle said. “Perhaps next year.”

La Salle said the association decided to kick the day off with a drum ceremony as a way to express gratitude to the original stewards of the land on which the party was hosted.

“We have to remember that we are on unceded land from the Anishinaabe territory, so for us it was important to highlight that, and of course it is Indigenous People’s Day,” he said.

Local bands René Bertrand and Back Trak took to the stage around 7:30 p.m., entertaining crowds until the day’s finale – the fireworks.