September 18, 2023
Found in “Community news”
As summer winds down (and we get prepped for ski season events), it’s time to look back at all the amazing events we’ve had in the last few months. Have a peek at some of our favourites – we hope to see you at winter events coming up:
There’s No Place Like Camp
To celebrate the camp season in July, we welcomed campers to events across the country in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary. Big thanks to our friends at The WKNDRS, the L.A. Foundation, MSR, Nemo and more. Everyone took part in camp clinics, gear tutorials, bingo games and s’mores stations (yum).
Photo: Kieren from the L.A. Foundation gave clinics on how to pack your pack and goal setting for the outdoors.
Out and About Pride
This year, Pride was more important than ever. In partnership with Arc’teryx, we had a full weekend of Pride events across the country from June to August – everyone was welcome to come and celebrate their true colours. Local community groups and climbing partners joined the festivities, Vancouver-based artist Leah Day transformed the MEC twin peaks into an epic art installation, and we worked with four incredible artists across Canada to design one-of-a-kind The North Face Base Camp Duffles inspired the outdoors to raffle off. In total, we donated over $5400 to five different 2LGBTQIA+ outdoor communities across Canada – amazing.
Photo: MEC members across the country left special “love letters” on the art installations by Leah Day.
Learn-to Camp with Parks Canada
From June to September, MEC teamed up with Parks Canada at their annual Learn-to Camp overnight events across the country. MEC members joined us for in-store workshops led by Parks Canada, where they learned basic camping skills and safety in the wilderness.
Photo: Learn-to Camp attendees found out how to use a camp stove, set up a tent, light a campfire and more.
Moncton Grand Opening
A huge one! We celebrated the opening of our newest Maritimes-based store in Moncton, New Brunswick. Climb clinics were hosted, local musicians played some tunes, prizes were won and delicious coffee was sipped. New friends lined up down the sidewalk (even in the rain!) to get in on the action – over 5500 Monctonians paid us a visit over the three days of the grand opening event.
Photo: Moncton members had a blast at the grand openings with live music, gift bags and tasty trail mix at the new store.
International Trails Day
On June 3, we celebrated International Trails Day – an annual celebration of trails, trail development and the active lifestyle they encourage. On the West Coast, we met up with MEC Outdoor Impact partner North Shore Mountain Bike Association for a day of trail building and maintenance.
Want to join us for a Trail Day? Learn more about what to expect and sign up for the next event.
Photo: Our amazing team helped maintain the Expresso Trail at Mount Fromme for future bikers.
Trail Party with Hike MTL
In Montreal, we joined MEC Outdoor Impact partner Hike MTL for their annual Trail Party. This event is an opportunity for BIPOC of all ages to learn about camp life in a safe environment while highlighting a sense of belonging. MEC staffers joined the event with games, hike workshops and prizes to celebrate the end of the summer season.
Photo: The Hike MTL crew met up in Saint-Hippolyte for a day of epic outdoor workshops.
A major thank you to the incredible organizations who helped make these events a reality, and thanks to everyone who came out and had a blast with us. Here’s to another great summer in 2024!
Stay tuned for more events as we launch into our celebrations of all things winter soon, with the return of the annual MEC x POW Season Opener (tickets go on sale October 5).
Related articles
- The 10 essentials for hiking and camping
- How to choose a camping stove](/en/explore/choose-your-camp-stove)
- Staying warm and sleeping warm
