Mosaculture returning to Gatineau in 2018

The group behind a horticultureexhibit that drew more than a million visitors to Gatineau last year is returning to Jacques-Cartier Park, but this year they won't be putting the event on for free.

Last summer's MosaCanada 150 exhibit, part of a number of events to mark Canada's 150th anniversary, attracted more than 1.3 million people to the park.

The free exhibit, put on by Mosaculture Internationales de Montral, was considered one of the bigger successes among the events to celebrate Canada's sesquicentennial.

While that eventreceived more than $9 million funding from three levels of government, the 2018 event,announced Tuesday at a news conference in Gatineau,will be relying on both government assistance and ticket sales.

The City of Gatineauand the province of Quebec willeach contribute$2 million, while the federal government is granting $1 million to support Mosaculture's marketing activities outside Quebec.

Event organizers also plan to charge visitors $15 for Gatineau residents and $20 for people from outside the city.

The exhibit will feature all 35 of the works from last year plus 10 new pieces, according to Mosaculturepresident and founder Lise Cormier.

10 new exhibits

Cormier said when her group asked visitors to last year's event whether they would have paid to attend,they were generally receptive to the idea.

"They told us if we had more exhibits and it was spectacular, they would come back," Cormier said.

Most notable among the new exhibits: a 100-tonne "bird tree" sculpture representing 56 endangered birds.

The exhibit will run from June 24 to Oct. 15.

A winter version of the exhibit featuring snow sculptures, called Mosavernales, had a ticket price of $10. Thatevent struggled with attendance, in part due to unseasonably mild weather.

Mosaculture returns to Gatineau this summer

7 years ago

Duration 0:38

Officials give a glimpse at the 2018 version of Mosaculture, the incredibly popular plant sculpture show that drew hundreds of thousands of people to Gatineau's Jacques-Cartier Park last summer.