As people get set to plan for summer activities, there’s one more to put on the list, and it’s a fuel charged, rip-roaring great event. The Manitou Beach Chainsaw Carving Festival returns to the salty shores running from Thursday, August 7 to Sunday, August 10.
Talented wood carvers from across the country descend on the Beach for a competition to produce large and small scale sculptures, and the event, held every two years, grows bigger and better with every competition. This year there’s an international competitor dropping in on Canada for the very first time.
“We have carvers that are coming back, and we have a couple new carvers that reached out to us,” says Fawne Inkster who manages communications for the organizers. “We have a new carver coming from Alberta, two from Manitoba, one from BC and one from Ireland.”
The Irish carver is the first overseas carver to participate in the event. Originally from Zimbabwe, the new arrival has lived in Ireland for the past 22 years perfecting his craft. The slate is full, and the chainsaws will roar on the August weekend.
For those who may not have seen the carvers in action and wonder what their works entail, there are plenty of display pieces nestled throughout the resort village, gifts from carvers’ previous visits.
“There are about 23 carvings throughout the village,” Inkster details. “If you get the Watrous/Manitou Beach activities book, there is a map of their locations. It has a little chainsaw icon showing where each of the carvings is.”
Visitors from across Canada, and indeed North America, have come for the festivities, and each observer marvels at how a sizeable log, provided for the carvers, morphs into fantastic and fanciful pieces of art with a wide range of styles and inspirations.
There are also the smaller carvings produced by the quick carves which go up for silent auction once completed.
“In 2023 we saw over 2500 people pass thru the festival gates and after all was tallied, we were able to provide accommodations, meals, travel expenses, supplies, logs and more to ten of Canadas very talented and accomplished Chainsaw Carvers. On top of that, we were able to give back to the surrounding communities by providing a $1000 scholarship to a Winston High Graduate, donating to Manitou Beach Community in Blooms and The Manitou Recreation Board and partnered to purchase an AED for the Manitou Beach Community Hall.”
The festival also hosts a vendors’ market with a wide variety of goods from across the prairies. Members of the Regina Whittlers Association will be on hand, along with on-site concessions and beer garden.
Of course, entertainment will also be taking place throughout the community at venues like Mike’s Beach Bar, Manitou Springs Spa and the Little Manitou Art Gallery, as is the case with most summer weekends.
August may seem a way off, but the Manitou Beach Chainsaw Carving Festival is one event you’ll want to make sure is an early entry on your calendar.