A giant slip-and-slide could be spilling into the Harbour City this summer.
Slide the City, a 300-metre slip-and-slide and street party, is working on a permit to make Nanaimo ground zero for its inaugural tour north of the border.
Vancouver Island is up on the event website as a destination for the event, which is coming to Canada for the first time this year. Thousands of people have already signed up to be the first to hear about registration, but it hasn’t been known which city would play host.
The City of Nanaimo now reports it’s helping Slide the City with the permit process that could see people coursing down a giant slide this July.
Slide the City co-founder John Malfatto confirms Nanaimo is its Vancouver Island pick. While Victoria was in the running, “Nanaimo kind of said, ‘Hey we can get you permitted really quickly and we’ve got some streets that will work really well’,” he said.
Slide the City is working with Nanaimo to pick a street for a one-day event, which can see up to 6,000 slip-and-sliders. Registration will open once it has a permit.
“Right now it really is in the hands of the health department and it has been for the past few weeks,” said Malfatto, adding the company wants to get the whole community involved, including non-profits, which would get donations in exchange for volunteers.
Rachel Thomas, Slide the City’s director of slippery surfaces, has been working with the city and didn’t want to disclose any further details, but said her group hopes to make an announcement by May 12.
“It’s just so new, unique and unusual and another big draw is just how nostalgic it is,” said Thomas. “People going back to when they used to put on these fun mini slip-and-slides in their backyard, but we’re kind of making it bigger and better and bringing it to the heart of downtown and bringing an entire community together.”