Fire trucks were the star attraction for thousands of kids and families
Although the fun and excitement were all there as in past years, the venue for the 2023 Laval Firemen’s Festival was entirely new on the weekend of Saturday June 3 and Sunday June 4.
Staged for years at the Laval Centropolis mall, the City of Laval and the Laval Fire Dept. decided to move the festival around two kilometres east to the parking lot at Collège Montmorency for this year’s event, citing improved safety and better access to public transit as the main reasons.
A big turnout
If anything, the crowds seemed all the more excited by the new location. In all, thousands of people from Laval as well as from further away turned out.
Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 am until late afternoon, the festival site was filled with a range of activities, including educational kiosks on fire prevention and safety, a car accident simulation, firefighter museum artifacts, fire truck displays, wandering entertainers, stage performers and more.
Mayor Stéphane Boyer arrived at the Collège Montmorency site around 10:30 am Saturday morning in the passenger seat of a vintage Laval Fire Dept. pump truck.
Parade of fire trucks
The unit was followed by more than a dozen classic and more recent fire and emergency services vehicles, sirens and horns blaring, following a route through several residential neighbourhoods of Laval.
“We’re doing something new this year,” the mayor said in a brief interview with The Laval News, noting the vehicles took a route through Pont-Viau, Laval-des-Rapides and the downtown sector of Laval.
“I think this is always a very special occasion each year for our firefighters, but also four our residents,” he continued. “You can see a lot of happiness in their faces. This is always a great gathering for everybody.”
