Moncton, New Brunswick

:For the parish, please see Moncton, New Brunswick (parish)

Culture & recreation

For a small sized city, Moncton is actually quite blessed with cultural and recreational facilities. The Capitol Theatre is an 800 seat, meticulously restored 1920's era vaudeville house on Main Street that serves as the centre for cultural entertainment for the city. The theatre routinely hosts live stage productions (TNB), as well as symphony orchestra and dance performances. The smaller Empress Theatre, located immediately behind the Capitol provides a cozier venue for smaller productions and performances. A school for the performing arts is currently being organized by the Capitol Theatre. The Atlantic Ballet Theatre is based in Moncton and has recently been garnering national attention. Theatre l'Escaouette is a francophone live theatre company that has its own auditorium and performance space on Botsford Street. . The Aberdeen Cultural Centre, an Acadian cultural cooperative containing multiple studios and galleries, is also located on Botsford Street close to Theatre l'Escaouette. There are two main museums in the city, The Moncton Museum on Mountain Road and Le Musée Acadien at Université de Moncton.

Related Topics:
Vaudeville - TNB - Université de Moncton

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Moncton is home to the Northrop Frye Literary Festival, a bilingual literary celebration in honour of world renowned literary critic and favorite son Northrop Frye. This celebration attracts authors from around the world and takes place in the month of April. The World Wine and Food Exposition is the largest event of its kind in eastern Canada and takes place every November. The annual Atlantic Nationals Automotive Extravaganza, held each July, is also one of the largest events of its kind in Canada. Other notable events include the Atlantic Seafood Festival every August ,the Hubcap Comedy Festival in the Spring and "Le 15 Aout des Fous", celebrating Acadia's National holiday.

Related Topics:
Northrop Frye - April

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The Moncton Coliseum, a 7,000-seat arena, serves as a venue for major concerts and trade shows and is the home of the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The CN Sportsplex is a major recreational facility built on the former CN Shops property. It includes nine ballfields, six soccer fields and an indoor rink complex with four ice surfaces (the Tim Horton's 4-Ice Centre). An indoor air supported multi-use building (the Dundee Sports Dome) is also being constructed at the sportsplex this year. This building will allow for year round football, soccer and golf activities. A newly constructed YMCA near the CN Sportsplex has extensive cardio and weight training facilities as well as three indoor pools. The CEPS at Université de Moncton contains an indoor track and a 50 metre swimming pool with diving towers. The only velodrome in Atlantic Canada is located in Dieppe.

Related Topics:
Moncton Coliseum - Moncton Wildcats - Quebec Major Junior Hockey League - Université de Moncton - Velodrome - Dieppe

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Moncton has hosted major sporting events in the past, such as the Brier (the Canadian national mens curling championship) and Skate Canada's national figure skating championship. Moncton will host the Memorial Cup (the Canadian national major junior A hockey championship) in 2006. Moncton is also one of only two cities in the world left in the running for the 2008 World Junior Track & Field Championship. Hosting this event would necessitate the construction of a 15-25,000 seat outdoor stadium. This undoubtably would bolster the city's ambition to land a CFL (Canadian Football League) franchise.

Related Topics:
Brier - Memorial Cup - CFL - Canadian Football League

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There are five 18 hole golf courses in the metro area, two of which are residential courses and two more of which are in the process of being converted to residential courses. These courses include:

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• The Moncton Golf and Country Club (Riverview)
• Fox Creek Golf Club (Dieppe)
• Royal Oaks Golf Club (Moncton)
• Magnetic Hill Golf Club (Moncton)
• Lakeside Golf Club (Moncton)

There are two major urban parks located in Moncton, Centennial Park in the city's west end and Mapleton Park adjacent to the Trans Canada Highway in the northwest section of the city. Both of these parks are in excess of 250 acres (1 km²) and contain numerous walking trails and recreational facilities. Mapleton Park is under pressure from commercial and residential development in adjacent lands, however the city and local developers understand the park's importance and are making every effort to maintain the existing 300 acres (1.2 km²) of park.

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In addition to these two parks, The Irishtown Nature Park in the north end of the city and the St. Anselme Park in Dieppe also constitute major urban green spaces.

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