Halifax welcomes warm weather for One Port City Day

Jill Matthews from The Port of Halifax shares what people can expect from this weekend's One Port City Day.

Thousands of people visited the Halifax Waterfront Saturday where the sun was shining for the 4th annual One Port City Day.

“I think it’s really a welcome forecast for everybody but certainly here at the One Port City event,” said Port of Halifax communications manager, Jill Matthews.

“It’s an annual celebration of the marine culture and exploration and innovation within the industry,” said Matthews in an interview with CTV’s Crystal Garrett.

The event includes free tours of ships and facilities alongside music and activities for the whole family to take Maritimers inside the region’s industrial and commercial marine culture.

The timing couldn’t have been better. The last precipitation-free weekend in the region was on March 22 and 23 – 11 weeks ago.

“Last year the weather did not cooperate. It definitely was more of a rainy day. We saw people come out, but not in the numbers that were seen today,” Matthews said.

People strolling the boardwalk found lots to do, from tugboat water displays to mini-train rides.

“It’s very nice to see the sun, it’s been a long spring,” said Halifax resident, Nicole Mead.

Business owners were also thankful for the sunshine. Outdoor seating was hard to find at bars, pubs, restaurants and cafés along the waterfront.

“This is really when patio season is at its peak,” said Natasha Chestnut, the executive director of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia.

“I think it is a little bit more impactful on the weekends because typically weekends are very busy for the industry. That’s when you do see a lot more people out dining out.”

CTV Meteorologist Kalin Mitchell said weather patterns tend to run in 4-to-7-day cycles and hopefully better forecasts are on the way.

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