Newfoundland and Labrador
Royal St. John's Regatta: St. John's; Aug. 3; 709-576-8921; regattamuseum@nf.aibn.com. North America's oldest continuous sporting event draws crowds as large as 50,000. But be warned: This fixed-seat rowing regatta held on beautiful Quidi Vidi Lake is for the easy-going -- it only goes off weather permitting. If the wind conditions aren't just right it's postponed until the next suitable day. The regatta falls at the tail end of the wonderful George Street Festival, six nights of live entertainment on the city's most famous street. So if you're flexible in your travel plans, attempt to take in both. -- Shawna Richer
Writers at Woody Point Literary Festival: Woody Point; Aug. 17 to 21; writersatwoodypoint.com; 709-453-2900. This star-studded literary fest got its start in 2004 and has already established itself as a can't-miss event. It brings together the best writers on The Rock in the lovely village of Woody Point in Gros Morne National Park to celebrate books and literature from Canada's most rugged and romantic province. This year's lineup includes Michael Winter, Wayne Johnson, Alistair MacLeod, Louis de Bernières and Christopher Pratt. Tickets are sold out, but aspiring attendees can still get on a waiting list. -- Shawna Richer
Prince Edward Island
Summerside Lobster Carnival: Summerside; July 11 to 16; 902-436-4925; http://www.exhibitions-festivalspeiae.com. Islanders have made "coming home to carnival" a tradition, and this July the festival marks its 50th anniversary. The event features an endless supply of PEI hospitality and its most sumptuous export in perfect combination. The week-long fest features street sales, live entertainment, a kite festival, harness racing, midways and oh yes, lobster suppers galore. -- Shawna Richer
The 70-Mile Coastal Yard Sale: Wood Islands; Sept. 24 to 25; 902-962-2044 yardsale@www.woodislands.ca. This years' event features more than 140 yard-sale sites, all with a view that can't be found in many other neighbourhoods. The route winds around the southeastern part of PEI and is just 45 minutes from Charlottetown, near the Wood Island ferry from Nova Scotia. The sale provides a beautiful autumn outdoor shopping experience and if fatigue sets in along the way, enjoy a respite at any of the nearby beaches. -- Shawna Richer
Nova Scotia
Stan Rogers Folk Festival: Canso; July 1 to 3; 1-888-554-7826; http://www.stanfest.com . Every year more than 10,000 faithful descend for the weekend on Canso, on the eastern edge of Nova Scotia's mainland. The oldest fishing village in North America, Canso is a pretty town and at most times a quiet one too. But each year during the first weekend in July, Canso bursts with vibrant entertainment. Though there's an Atlantic tone to the tunes, Stanfest, as it's called, lures artists from across Canada and around the world. This year, you can catch Cape Breton's Bruce Guthro, Barra MacNeils, Halifax songstress Jill Barber and Toronto's Rheostatics, among dozens of other artists. -- Shawna Richer
Digby Scallop Days: Digby; Aug. 3 to 7; http://www.townofdigby.ns.ca. This fishing community on the Bay of Fundy is world famous for its melt-in-the-mouth scallops. So what better excuse to spend time here than a four-day celebration of its best export? Built around a hill in the Annapolis Basin and with lovely water views, Digby is the perfect summer vacation spot. Water Street offers a spectacular look at the town's scallop fleet and each August the fishing town celebrates its way of life. Events include scallop shucking contests, gear-knitting competitions and a parade of the scallop fleet in the harbour beneath fireworks. -- Shawna Richer
New Brunswick
Chocolate Fest: St. Stephen; July 31 to Aug. 6; http://www.chocolate-fest.ca; 506-465-5616. For the first week of August, indulge your sweet tooth and your richest chocolate fantasies in this friendly New Brunswick border town. St. Stephen is officially known as "Canada's chocolate town," and this week in August is the only time of the year that the famous Ganong Chocolate Factory opens up for tours. Even if you are obsessed with chocolate, the festival could seem over-the-top, featuring chocolate meals, "choc-tail hour," chocolate-pie-eating contests and even chocolate-coloured pony rides for the kids. For true aficionados, however, the sweet extravaganza may feel just right. -- Shawna Richer
Atlantic Seafood Festival: Moncton; Aug. 18 to 21; 1-866-584-8585; http://www.atlanticseafoodfestival.com. Tempt your taste buds at Moncton's Atlantic Seafood Festival, an event that celebrates local delicacies with a recipe for success: fresh seafood prepared by local and international chefs, fantastic wine and Cajun-flavoured music. Sporting types can take in oyster shucking competitions and the fest culminates with a Seafood Olympics that will crown the best chowder, fish cakes and fried clams. -- Shawna Richer
Quebec
Hiking the Chic-Chocs: Parc de la Gaspésie; autumn; sepaq.com. The Gaspé peninsula is a popular tourist destination, but the vast majority of travellers make the mistake of simply following Highway 132, which hugs the shoreline. A single turn, on to tiny Highway 299 leads to the Parc de la Gaspésie, and one of the most spectacular and unknown mountain ranges, the Chic-Chocs. The park features more than 150 kilometres of groomed trails, and hikes for everyone from beginners to experts, ranging from a couple of hours to several days. For lovers of the fall colours, there are few better places to take in the autumnal beauty and, as an added bonus, wildlife -- notably moose and caribou -- is plentiful. -- André Picard
New France Festival: Quebec City; Aug. 3 to 8; quebecregion.com. Visiting Quebec City in the summer is always a pleasant experience, but August offers something special. The New France Festival features the history and heritage of a city that will celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2008. The five-day event offers a variety of lively shows in the heart of Old Quebec where hundreds of participants roam the streets dressed-up in 15th-century costumes. Visitors can also take in a major exhibition at the Musée du Québec, where a North American premiere will feature 30 works each by French artists Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin. -- Rhéal Séguin
Ontario
Sarah Harmer's I Love The Escarpment Tour: across Ontario; June 13 to July 2; http://www.sarahharmer.com. The Juno-winning songbird has a new obsession this summer. The Burlington native has gone nuts for Ontario's Niagara Escarpment, the green corridor that runs more than 700 kilometres from Niagara Falls to Tobermory. Harmer loves the trees, the birds, the water, the rock formations. And she's rallying against a proposed rezoning that would mean opening up the region to new extraction quarries. Harmer will hike portions of the Bruce Trail and sing at theatres and halls along the way. The tour starts in Tobermory with stops in Owen Sound, Mono Centre, Collingwood, Avening, Georgetown and Waterdown, finishing in Burlington on June 26. -- Tralee Pearce
Collingwood Elvis Festival: Collingwood; July 20 to 24; http://www.collingwoodelvisfestival.com. For five days it's all about Elvis at the 11th annual homage to the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Complete with a street party and stage shows featuring a competition between dozens of tribute artists, the festival's highlight comes on Saturday, July 23, with The '68 Comeback Special, a stage show recreating Presley's first live television performance after an extended sojourn on Hollywood sound stages. -- Laszlo Buhasz
Manitoba
Islendingadagurinn (Icelandic Festival): Gimli; July 29 to Aug. 1; http://www.icelandicfestival.com; 204-642-7417. Held on the shores of Lake Winnipeg since 1890, Islendingadagurinn (IS-len-ding-a-DAG-ur-inn) is a celebration of Icelandic games, poetry and food such as ponnukukur (sweet pancakes). Located 75 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Gimli was settled by Icelanders who formed the Republic of New Iceland, which existed as a separate nation inside Canada for 12 years until it was swallowed into Manitoba in 1887. But the party isn't just for Vikings, as more than 40,000 people invade the tiny town.
While tradition is abundant -- check out Islendingadunk, a game where two contestants sit on a pole suspended over water and try to knock each other off with pillows -- more modern activities have snuck onto the festival line-up, including a sand-castle-building contest and a midway. There is no admission fee and most events are free. -- Katherine Harding
Canadian Water Ski Championships: Winnipeg; Aug. 11 to 14; 204- 925-5700; http://www.waterski.mb.ca. More than 150 top water ski athletes will return to Winnipeg this year for the national finals at Lake Shirley, the man-made lake built for the 1999 Pan American Games. Skiers will compete in the slalom, jump and trick categories, and an open championships will be held on the Sunday. During a banquet on Saturday evening, two skiers will be inducted into the Canadian Water Ski Hall of Fame. -- Laszlo Buhasz
Alberta
Waynefest: Wayne; Sept. 9 to 11; 780-451-4968; http://www.waynefest.com. "Come. Sit. Stay." So goes the invitation for Waynefest, a folk music gathering held in an old ghost town in the Alberta Badlands, two hours outside of Calgary. The town of Wayne sits in a valley at the end of a small road, a route that features 11 one-lane river crossings. Once a bustling coal-mining town of 3,000, there are now only about four dozen residents and one principal establishment, the Rosedeer Hotel and the Last Chance Saloon. Come September, 500 folks swing in to listen to a little music and enjoy camping amid rugged and almost otherworldly Badlands terrain. This year's Waynefest features local Albertans such as Chantal Vitalis, other Canadian names including Danny Michel and an international flavour with Australian Emaline Delapaix. -- Dave Ebner
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park Rodeo: near Milk River, July 30-31: Country singer and songwriter Ian Tyson has called this event the "quintessential Western experience," saying it "captures the essence of the outdoor picnic cowboy celebrations of long ago."
Held in short grass desert country at one of Alberta's most important archeological preserves, the semi-pro Chinook Association Rodeo is a great place to don a ten-gallon and tight Levis and get in touch with your inner cowboy and cowgirl.
While there are several rodeos held across southern Alberta every summer, this one is considered special mainly owing to the sprawling venue, which was designated a national historical site earlier this year. It's also a laid-back event where you can actually rub shoulders with the more than 200 participants who complete in six events, including can-chasing (barrel racing). -- Katherine Harding
Saskatchewan
Canada Summer Games: Regina; Aug. 6 to 20; 306-586-2005; http://www.2005jeuxducanadagames.ca. Former world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis once competed at the Canada Summer Games. So did softball player Hayley Wickenheiser and track and field specialist Diane Jones-Konihowski.
Tomorrow's sporting stars get their chance to shine in August when Regina hosts the 2005 Canada Summer Games. More than 4,500 athletes from across the country will compete in 16 events -- everything from athletics to wrestling. This year's games are part of Saskatchewan's 100th birthday celebrations. -- Al Maki
Saskatchewan Summer Star Party: near Maple Creek; Aug. 4 to 7; 306-384-4781; www.usask.ca/psychology/sarty/rasc/starparty.html.Hunt for that star light, star bright with the family during a visit to Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park in the southern Prairies. The park, located on a butte that rises 1,460 metres above sea level, is an ideal place to troll for globular clusters, galaxies, nebulas and much more, because it is the highest point in Canada between the Rockies and Labrador. Because of the location, amateur star watchers flock to this annual event sponsored by the province's branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Participants can also sleep beneath the vast Prairie skies by booking a site and camping at the park. -- Katherine Harding
British Columbia
The Famous Williams Lake Stampede: Williams Lake, June 30 to July 3; 250-398-8388; http://www.williamslakestampede.com/index.htm. Set in the middle of the Cariboo-Chilcotin country, where cowboys still ride the range on sprawling ranches, the little rodeo started out in 1919 as an event for local families. Over the years, however, it became famous because of wild events such as the Mountain Race, where the riders bolt down nearby Fox Mountain before tearing into the stampede ground, and the Wild Horse Race, where riders must saddle a bucking horse, then convince it to cross a finish line. Competitors come from as far away as Australia to compete for honour and prize money. -- Mark Hume
Loggers Sports Show: Squamish; July 30 to 31; www.squamishdays.org/LoggerSports/EventDesc.html. You don't have to be a lumberjack to use a power saw in British Columbia. But experience in the forest is an asset if you have the strength, skill and stamina to enter this popular two-day competition. Power-saw tree falling is one of the most popular events. Other highly competitive events include double bladed axe-throwing and bucking (that a logger's term for cutting) a 20-inch log in the shortest time possible. Climbers race up an 80-foot tree for the largest prize: $1,200. A few years ago, the top climber was a pharmacist by profession. The show draws around 3,000 fans from the U.S. and neighbouring provinces and Squamish 45 minutes north of Vancouver, offers enough scenery and outdoor adventure to keep new arrivals busy. -- Robert Matas
Yukon
Dawson City Music Festival: Dawson City, July 22 to 24; 867-993-5584; http://www.dcmf.com. It's the Yukon's preeminent summertime music event, and it's easy to see why. The town of 1,800 overflows with revellers, drawn by the eclectic lineup and the dusty charm of this gold rush city on the banks of the Yukon River. Once called "Canada's tiny, perfect festival" by the Georgia Strait newspaper, festival-goers gather in Klondike-era churches for intimate jams or pile into giant striped tents set up downtown to dance under the midnight sun. Beyond the music, there's plenty to do, from gambling at Diamond Tooth Gerties to touring the gold fields where miners still sift for gold. -- Karan Smith
Northwest Territories
Summer Solstice Festival: Yellowknife; June 20 to 24; 867-766-3865; http://www.solsticefestival.ca. How do you make the longest day of the year last and last and last? Go north, way north, to Yellowknife and celebrate more than 18 hours of daylight at the Summer Solstice Festival. Yellowknife lies on the shores of Great Slave Lake and is just 500 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle. Once a frontier outpost, the capital of the Northwest Territories is a thriving metropolis of 18,000 residents. This year's event features dancers and singers from across the Arctic, a First Nations puppet show, a Montreal rock 'n' roll band and drummers from West Africa. -- Judith Pereira
Nunavut
Nunavut Run: Arctic Bay; July 2 to 6; 867-439-8913; nunavutrun.com. This July, runners from around the globe will gather in Arctic Bay, located on the northern shores of Baffin Island, to test their stamina at the world's northernmost marathon. The 42-kilometre course starts in the community of about 700 residents and winds down a dirt road to the now-defunct Nanisivik zinc mine before heading over the rugged Uluksan Peninsula to the shores of Victor Bay. Runners cross the finish line back in Arctic Bay, where they can then refresh themselves with local delicacies such as seal or walrus. -- Judith Pereira