Bonhomme Carnaval has been a great success so far, says Centre Culturel La Ronde’s executive director Lisa Bertrand.
The two-week carnival wraps up Saturday, Feb. 27, with a virtual Bill Bestiole show, a concert from the Lapointe family and the reveal of Bonhomme.
Wednesday, the centre held a cooking workshop with Julie Lefebvre, who’s a member of La Ronde’s fundraising committee. During the live-streamed event, Lefebvre showed people how to make a green salad and Coquilles Saint-Jacques, a dish involving shrimps and scallops.
When choosing what to cook, Lefebvre said she was looking to make something that would cater to everyone. For those who aren’t into seafood, Lefebvre advised using chicken instead.
“It is a perfect winter meal on a snowy carnival day,” she said, adding Coquilles Saint-Jacques is her favourite dish to make.
La Ronde’s technical director Luc Chalifoux was on hand, helping set up the equipment to live stream the event on Facebook and Zoom.
The carnival has had a lot of great feedback, according to Bertrand.
She said Bonhomme has been making visits to different schools in Timmins and Iroquois Falls.
“The kids were so happy even though there were some kids Bonhomme said hi through the window. We went to schoolyards and we kept our social distancing,” Bertrand said.
The virtual dance class with Melissa Kelly-Lavoie attracted around 600 to 800 students, Bertrand said.
The window decorating contest has wrapped up and people can vote for the best-decorated window on La Ronde’s Facebook page until Friday at 5 p.m.
The unveiling of Bonhomme’s identity will be announced Saturday. This year, three dance teachers were chosen as candidates. Voting for who is Bonhomme closes Saturday at 10 p.m.
“We are pre-recording the reveal of the Bonhomme because we have three dancers, so we’re going to have a different way of revealing this year,” Bertrand said.
