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“Locally Owned & Operated” 2008 “PROUDLY INDEPENDENT”
Volume 18, Issue 29 | Wed., July 16, 2025
Mossbank festival a chance to enjoy food, car show, street dancing, history
Jason G. Antonio - MooseJawToday.com turning the meat into pemmican. A BlackFor more than 20 years, the Town of Mossbank’s Old Wives Lake Festival has enterfoot war party later attacked and was beaten tained thousands of people with many fun off, but the Cree tribe still decided to flee. activities that also build community and The old women, though, decided to promote regional history. remain to give the younger members time This year’s festival takes place from to leave. They talked loudly throughout the Friday, July 18, to Sunday, July 20, with all night to not arouse the suspicions of the activities happening around the community, Blackfoot, and when a larger contingent of which is located about 30 kilometres southBlackfoot warriors returned and found just west of Moose Jaw. the old wives, they massacred them. A golf tournament at 6 p.m. kicks off “Legend has it that the spirits of the the weekend on July 18, while on July 19, dead women haunt a small island in the there is a pancake breakfast; the 11th annual lake, known as the Isle of Bays, to this day. Justinsane Barbie Car Club show ‘n’ shine; Some say that on windy spring nights, you a petting zoo, street market, face painting, can hear the old wives’ howls of laughter a magician and bouncy castles at the com- early years, but few people wanted to travel mocking the Blackfoot they deceived,” the munity hall; a magic show at the library; there because they were worried about Mysteries of Canada website says. tours of the blacksmith shop and museum; missing activities in town. Holding this festival is important belive music and street dance from 7 p.m. to 1 Organizers have attempted to show- cause residents and organizers want to a.m., with DetourCountry hitting the stage case the lake’s history and the stories sur- uphold the legend due to its connection to at 9 p.m.; fireworks; and beer gardens. rounding it during the festival, while they Mossbank, while they also want to honour On July 20, there is a pancake break- are also encouraging festivalgoers to visit the community’s airbase from the Second fast, an outdoor church service, tractor pulls the water body, she continued. They also World War, said Kowalski. and superheroes and Disney princesses. Meanwhile, Kowalski’s favourite parts hope to restart tours to the lake in the future. Furthermore, there will be more than Kowalski discussed the legend of how of the festival include the car show, a quilt20 vendors present on July 19 from 10 a.m. the lake — the largest natural lake in south- ing display, the vendor market and the tracto 4 p.m., and food trucks on July 19 and 20. ern Saskatchewan and the fourth-largest sa- tor pulls. The festival started as a small event line lake in North America — received its “Sometimes there’s a lot of things to but grew into a larger multi-day celebration name. look at and sometimes not enough time to over the decades, explained co-organizer An old Aboriginal story goes that Cree do it,” she chuckled. Gwen Kowalski. Parts of it occurred at Old hunters were skinning and dismembering Visit mossbank.ca or the festival’s Wives Lake — a bird sanctuary — in those bison while a group of old women were Facebook page for more information.