The second-annual Glow Paddle event was held in Estevan on Aug. 25, and was a night filled with glowing decorations and fun on the water.
The event is free to anyone interested in participating, and was started last year by Estevan’s Monique Willms and Jennifer Durr. Participants decorate their flotation device of choice with glow sticks and lights, and spend a few hours paddling the Souris River.
“We had seen some advertisements for glow paddle tours in Costa Rica and I mentioned to Jennifer that it looked like something fun to do and it all just went and snowballed from there,” said Willms.
“Jen started up a Facebook group as a way of contacting and advertising to people that might be interested in joining us and it’s just carried on from that. There’s no money in it or anything like that, we just thought it looked like something that would be really fun to do.”
The paddlers began arriving at 6 p.m. for the event, and took to the task of decorating whatever they had brought as a means of navigating the river. Canoes, kayaks and paddleboards were all present, and the riders decorated each in a spectacularly unique way.
This year’s paddle was arranged to start earlier than last year’s, as the organizers wanted participants to have more time in the daylight to decorate their boards and canoes.
The group hit the water at 7 p.m., and was filled with several lavishly decorated designs, and participants eager to spend an evening on the water.
“We hit the river as a big group and then we just paddle along,” said Willms.
“It makes for some really great photos, the long exposure shots catch some really cool looking light trails of all the glow sticks in the dark.”
The event saw roughly 20 participants last year, a number that the organizers said they were hopeful to see again this year.
“Last year we had a really good turnout, especially since there isn’t an official organization or anything like that. We just put an open call out to anyone that wanted to join us and went from there,” said Willms.
“A lot of us have come and paddled the river before so we all feel comfortable on the water, but it does get very dark, to the point where headlamps don’t help very much, so we wanted to give people more time this year to be able to really decorate their boards bright enough that it wouldn’t be pitch black.”
The event is scheduled to continue next year, and will remain free to anyone interested in participating. Participants must provide all of their own safety equipment including life jackets, and all children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
“It’s a really great way to meet people and just have a great time,” said Willms.
“Most people that come out for the first time tell us that they really wish they had brought more glow sticks so we really encourage everyone to go overboard and really light themselves up as much as possible, it’s a really great time and just so much fun.”
This week's Mercury will have more on the story.
