“The vision is just to plan a community party to celebrate our community and our neighbouring communities as well and to just bring everybody together and have an end of the summer party,” Lair said.

Most of the activities took place outside, which made them vulnerable to the rain over the weekend, but Lair said the organizing team had anticipated this, and rented a series of tents to be used in case of wet weather.

This foresight meant that this year’s activities, which included yoga, baseball, a car show, a duck race, clown entertainment, a talent show, face painting, volleyball, and retro roller skating, continued despite the sporadic rain throughout the weekend.

While Island Fest had many of the same activities from other years, this year brought some new highlights, including retro roller skating and a talent show.

From 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, festival attendees could use roller skates supplied at the event to try rolling around the Upper Pontiac Sports Complex. To the delight of many roller skaters, the wheels would light up once skaters hit a certain speed.

Two cousins, Amelia Chartrand and Sally Duff, were having so much fun and were roller skating very well.

“A little bit but not really,” Duff said, when asked if she had done it before. Chartrand, for her part, insisted it was her first time.

The other newer activity at Island Fest was the talent show, which took place on the main stage in the park on Saturday at noon.

A young girl named Libby Chafe who was only nine years old, was among the brave performers who took the stage at the event.

For her five minutes in the spotlight, Chafe chose to sing a song by Taylor Swift.

“I was nervous and excited, and I wanted to know where my mom was,” Chafe said. “I was excited to do that but at the same time I was like, ‘Oh my God, can I do this, can I not?’”

“There’s memorable moments every year,” Lair said. “I just hope that it goes on for many more years.”

Owen Sullivan sang and played guitar as the first performance at Island Fest’s talent show. Photo: Leiya Fischer

The Screaming Eagles team won the adult volleyball tournament at Island Fest. From left are Ashton Gmeiner, Sébastien Vermette, Donovan Gagnon, Carson O’Neil, and Mason Spence. Lying down in front is Ethan Gagnon. Photo: Leiya Fischer

Sadie Joe tries to reach the button at the top of the rock climbing wall. Photo: Leiya Fischer

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!