Canoe theft can't sink Edmonton festival after community steps up

Canoe donation buoys winter festival after theft Canoe Volant Festival organizers are thanking CTV viewers, after receiving donated canoes to replace the eight that were stolen.

EDMONTON -- Canoes will be flying down the hills again at a popular winter festival thanks to some generous donations from the community.

The Flying Canoe Volant Festival group has had eight of its canoes stolen since August.

Organizers thought the canoes were secure but thieves cut the locks, loaded them onto a pickup and sped away. The canoes were valued at $8,000 which would have been a big blow to the festival's budget.

Carrie Strome and her husband saw a story about the theft on CTV News Edmonton and decided they had to help.

"We were watching it on the news and I said 'that’s horrible,' and you know we have the canoe just sitting under the deck and we haven’t used it in about five years," said Strome.

Her husband said find out how to get a hold out them and they can have it.

So far, five canoes have been donated, coming from Edmonton, Gull Lake and even Red Deer. Festival producer Daniel Cournoyer says the community has stepped up.

"Thanks to people like Carrie that have so generously reached out to us, that speaks volumes to the community spirit and support for the Flying Canoe Volant festival we’ve had over the years, community will take us farther than one individual driving off with three canoes in the middle of the night”

The canoes are part of a “Canadian Triathlon” where participants race the canoe down a hill then use a two-person buck saw and finish with axe throwing.

The festival runs Jan. 30-Feb. 1 and celebrates French, Indigenous and Métis culture.