On February 18th, you can take a ride through the history of Miramichi.
Miramichi History Night Character Bus Tours takes passengers from place to place across the city, featuring performances, songs, and stories from poignant historical figures.
The organizer Tiffany Gallivan calls it “a traveling dinner theater through time”.
She said she’s noticing a shift towards demand for more local events.
“We have a lot of old, beautiful historical sites in the area — many of us have driven past them 1,000 times,” Gallivan said. “And so we thought, what a great opportunity for the community if we organized something that would highlight all of these historic sites in the community.”
The tour takes groups to three different locations. Each group starts at a different location and moves around. Refreshments will be provided at each location.
Gallivan said it’s an immersive way to take people through the tour.
She said attendees will be joined by Lord Beaverbrook, Alexander Rankin, Louise Manny, Betty Crocker and Maisie Mitchell. She said these are “all the really important people in our community.”
As locations they have Beaverbrook House, Newcastle Kin Center and Seamen’s Hospital.
Discover your city
How did the idea come about? Of other events, such as pub crawls, Gallivan said they realized that moving people around on buses created a big movement in the community.
She said this type of travel gets people to interact with each other.
A project like this also requires some artistic and acting skills. The group had to write scripts and perform in costumes.
“So, it’s been pretty tough, but because we’re such a great group of people working together, it’s been … quite a joy to do this,” she said. “Although it was some work, it was really fun to get in and get going.”
community connection
Gallivan said the aim of the project is to connect with the community.
“First, it’s about giving people really different new ways to connect and meet people and build a community in our little town, our little town.”
“And also, really, some of these historical places are just amazing. The stories that come through there… I don’t know if we always take the time to realize what a rich history we have here, especially here in Miramichi.”
Gallivan said the response has been great so far. They had passengers from Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton inquiring about the event.
In total, the passengers will need about four and a half hours for the journey.
