Canadian Fruit Wine and Hockey in London!

It wasn’t exactly Hockey Night In Canada, but for Canadians living in England it certainly did the trick.

Trafalgar Square in London was temporarily transformed Tuesday into a street hockey rink to highlight the Canada Day festivities.

Teams from all over the country went head to head competing for the Petro-Canada Trafalgar Cup, drawing the attention of curious Londoners and delighting Canadians from all over the U. K. About 1,000 in all took in the sporting event at the square.

It’s so good to be a part of this festival. It’s certainly a historic location,” said Colin MacDonald, the lead singer and guitarist of The Trews. They were one of the groups performing for the event, sponsored by Travel Alberta.

The Trews, along with The McDades and Jesse Cook, kicked off the celebrations Monday night.

The hockey tournament final was between running champions, The Cambridge Maple Leafs, and local team, The London Devils who prevailed with a score of 7-0.

We play the game like Canada does,” said London Devils’s centre Harry Grant. It felt really good to win. We beat the top three teams and we had the hardest route to the top, but we did it.”

Brits had an opportunity to sample Canadian delicacies such as Canadian fruit wine and bison burgers, not to mention the all-important Tim Hortons coffee being served inside the Ontario pavilion.

Keeping with the culinary theme, there was a demonstration by prominent Canadian chef Daniel Verati who works at Ottawa’s swanky Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa Culinary Arts Institute. As a way of demonstrating Canada’s unique flavour, he cooked up a storm by making Lake Ontario trout with Fingerling potatoes and Ginger Confit in Niagara ice wine.

Those who wanted a bit of time out of the sun could visit the Alberta pavilion, which was hosted by professional masseuses offering to massage the backs of festival-weary tourists coupled with a pick-me-up at the oxygen bar.

Fredericton RCMP Cpl. Dave Ward was in full dress uniform, much to the amusement of British Due South fans looking for a photo op.

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