“We are really excited to welcome back Canadians,” shares International Peace Garden CEO, Tim Chapman. “We had a few [Canadian] visitors last year but because of the border restrictions it just wasn’t that easy for our friends in Canada to visit.” 

“But with those easing, we are beyond excited!” 

“For a lot of our staff, it was tough for them because over the last couple of years they were still able to come to work but their families were not as easily allowed to see all the hard work they put into making this place so beautiful.” 

“So, we’re expecting a big uptick of visitors from both sides of the border this year, but especially happy to welcome back Canadians.” 

Chapman lives with his family on the grounds of the Peace Garden and gives personal testimony to the continuous upgrades and construction in progress. The Conservatory expansion project, home to the world-class cacti and succulent collection, is taking greater shape and the building of the new children’s play area is expected to be complete by mid-summer. 

Improvements to the Garden includes expanding their camping services, to better facilitate today’s camping scene of travelers visiting new locations with larger units. 

“Our camping is really picking up,” shares Chapman. “It was fascinating last year for Manitoba Parks, their first day, the camping sites went in about 2 hours. So, we expect ours to go accordingly this year. We’ve had reservations really picking up since January,” 

Through the capital budget, the Peace Garden was able to build up their camping facilities and add 50 new sites to accommodate the bigger, newer RV’s that come through. 

“So, it’s been through those reservations we’ve been encouraging people to take advantage of our new kayak rentals on Lake Stormon,” he adds. “You can reserve different eating and picnic areas around the Garden as well; just beautiful settings throughout the grounds where you can have a gathering with your family, friends or organization.” 

The Peace Garden is also including more specialized dinners in their list of summer events. 

“As part of our events series, we’re adding more and more suppers,” explains Chapman. “That has been a lot of fun! It gives people a little bit of extra value for their lifetime memberships by adding discounts associated with these meals, but they are also open to the general public.” 

One of the locations on the ‘dinner menu’ is the Historic Lodge, built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and is the oldest building on the grounds. “It’s a beautiful setting, so we’re looking to get more events in there again,” he adds, “as well as the Willis Pavilion located on the Canadian side looking over Lake Stormon and throughout the grounds, to really give people a variety of experiences to go with some great food and drink.” 

“So, there’s a lot of great stuff going on with our staff working hard to enhance the visitor experience!”  

The International Peace Garden is celebrating their 90th Anniversary this summer! For more on this celebration and upcoming events, visit: Botanical Gardens - Cactus Conservatory - Campsites (peacegarden.com)