The Tubie Parade began and ended in Morrisburg’s Earl Baker Park, with several floats, trucks and emergency vehicles delighting the crowds of people lining the street along its route. Pictured above, for Super Mario Brothers fans, the Super Tubie Brothers was like a walk down memory lane, as many characters from either the recent movie or video games wowed the people watching the parade from the sidelines!  Thompson Goddard Photo

MORRISBURG – It was another successful Tubie Weekend with lots of fun things to see and do in Morrisburg over the Aug. 4-6 weekend with the theme of “Tubies Gone Wild”. The event featured bouncy castles in the waterfront park, refreshment area, a parade and of course on Sunday the 2023 Tubie Race.

“We had great attendance to support the 51st Tubie Festival. This year the theme was Tubies Gone Wild! The participants in both the floats for the parade and crafts put a tremendous amount of effort in to make this a first-class event,” commented spokesperson Monika St. Louis.

The Tubie Parade began and ended in Morrisburg’s Earl Baker Park around 1 p.m. on Saturday, with several floats, trucks and emergency vehicles delighting the crowds of people lining the street along its route. The first-place parade winner was the Tubie a Wild Outlaws float, followed by Trolls Gone Wild in second place and 2B’s Gone Wild in third place, winning $300, $200 and $100 respectively.

A Tubie Dance was held during the evening of Aug. 5, with St. Louis mentioning just under 600 people attended the dance held at the Morrisburg waterfront and 100 children on Saturday and Sunday received free ice cream at the Docksyde thanks to community sponsorship.

“The local community support has been incredible!” said St. Louis. She thanked the businesses and people who provided support to the weekend event as well as the many organizers, volunteers and those who attended the events over the weekend.

Sunday was Tubie Race Day, with St. Louis describing a tubie as a craft built on top of two large tire tubes generally from big tractors. As the tubies arrived with their crews, she explained nine teams had registered for the event, with a team having to have at least two crew members and an equal number of both women and men.

Nancy Jordon of Morrisburg mentioned for many years the family have participated in the Tubie Race, mentioning this year her grown children are part of the crew. She commented how the weekend is almost like a homecoming for many people and she enjoys participating in it “because it’s a lot of fun.”  As the fire siren started the race in the water at Arlor Haven, St. Louis mentioned there were eight teams competing in the 51st Tubie Race which would end near the beach at the Morrisburg Waterfront. She explained there is no time limit as to how long it can last but generally it is over in about half an hour. Once the tubie teams departed, the crowd dispersed, with some making the trip to Morrisburg to see who won the 2023 Tubie Race.

Winners in the 51st Tubie Race were: Tubie Outlaws (St. Louis family) finishing at 29 minutes, the 2B’s Wild (Broad family) finishing at 29:05 minutes; Sunken Salon (Jord/Lee) at 32.11, with an honourable mention to The Trolls (Barclay/Lauren) who were in fourth place at 32.32.

As Tubie Weekend in Morrisburg wound down, there were without doubt many who were looking ahead to next year’s Tubie Weekend and the fun which would be experienced.