Summer traffic was similar to 2016 at the International Peace Garden (IPG) south of Boissevain. Every year Garden workers try to keep track of the number of people coming into the Peace Garden and they use gate receipts to determine that number.

“September was a mild month, and we didn’t have any frost so the flowers held their own right to the end of the month and with the weather the way it was we had a number of people still coming out right to the end of September” said CEO Garry Enns.

Enns added if this is a sign of things to come with regards to the weather they will have to start planning for longer summer seasons.

“We’ve stay busy here at the Peace Garden with the music camp holding a number of retreats for several schools in Western Manitoba and we also host the Communities in Bloom conference and that was a smashing success.”

Enns feels the Peace Garden had more activities on the go in 2017 but that didn’t necessarily translate into a lot more people coming through the gate. “Our gate receipts indicate that 2017 was similar to 2016 with anywhere from 70 to 90,000 people coming to the International Peace Garden during the summer months” said Enns.

While the IPG has a number of events that attract people Enns says most of their traffic is simply drive up visits by people wanting to see the Peace Garden.