Light show returns to Parliament Hill after two years
This summer, Parliament Hill is holding its annual Northern Lights Sound and Light Show again after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. It is a free 30-minute light show displayed on the Parliament buildings that explores the history of Canada.
The show is split up into six parts, with vivid illustrations recreating historical events in a tableau-style, with motion. These pictures are so well designed and placed, so that you forget they are just projections on a building. The story acknowledges Canada’s greatest successes when it came to Confederation, the First World War, and the Cold War, as well as highlighting the many inventors and innovators born in this country. It also addresses how Canada has failed in its treatment of Indigenous people throughout history, and broken promises over land treaties.
The show also honours the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The show attracts large crowds of people from all over the world. “I’m from Miami, and this is my first time in Canada,” visitor Nicolas Royo said. “This was an amazing show, such an extraordinary event to witness. The storytelling was well done and felt new. I did not know a lot about Canada before coming here, but this show takes you through history and makes you feel like you are witnessing it personally. Putting that all into a story was a great way to learn the history for sure.”
Royo highly recommended the show to anyone visiting Ottawa in the summer: “If you are not from Canada and want to learn about the country, this will do it in a way that entertains you.”
The show plays from Thursday to Monday evenings every week until September 5. For more information, check out Ottawa Tourism.
