This Just In ...

This summer, explorers and aviators will be celebrated, sailors and canoeists will race and plenty of Celtic and Cajun music will be played. All four provinces are less than two hours away from most East Coast gateways.

New Brunswick is going all out to celebrate its French Acadian culture with a nonstop, three-week party during the summer of 2009.

Some 20,000 French Acadians will gather at the World Acadian Congress, August 7 to 23. Visitors can join in the festivities that include: concerts, heritage tours, photographic and quilt exhibitions and storytelling evenings. Musicians from Louisiana's Cajun Country, and as far as Mali and Morocco, will perform. Cycling tours and kite boarding and windsurfing competitions are scheduled.

Designated the "Cultural Capital of Canada" by Heritage Canada, Fredericton is again offering its innovative edVentures for the second year. Starting July 6 and running through August 14, more than 120 workshops by noted experts in the arts, crafts and design will be offered. Participants can study painting, photography, film-making, fiction writing, pottery, textiles and more. The city's Beaverbrook Art Gallery also has its 50th birthday and The Playhouse celebrates its 45th anniversary. The self-proclaimed "lobster capital of the world" will host the 60th edition of the Shediac Lobster Festival (July 8-12) with parades, entertainment and feasting on this delicious crustacean.

Celebrating Bartlett 2009 honors its native son who helped American explorer Robert Peary be the first person to reach the North Pole in 1909. The province will host a year-long series of sailing excursions, visits by the Arctic schooner Bowdoin, heritage fairs, Arctic voyage simulations, exhibitions, dramatic presentations and lectures - all commemorating the historic voyage and a lifetime of Arctic exploration.

A world-renowned international festival in St. John's, The Festival 500 Sharing the Voices, features more than 60 concerts of choral music, July 5 to 12. St. John's Time is an 11-day, non-stop party, July 30 to August 9. This lively celebration kicks off with the George Street Festival. Streets are closed, pubs throw open their doors and bands rock into the night. Celebrated since 1826, the Royal St. John's Regatta, one of North America's oldest continuing sporting events, is cheered on by 30,000 spectators on Quidi Vidi Lake.

From August 7 to 9, the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival features singers, dancers, storytellers and musicians performing traditional Newfoundland music, Celtic tunes and modern rock. At the Buskers Festival visitors can see up to 30 shows a day watching jugglers, acrobats and magicians on four stages.

The 100th anniversary of Canada's first powered flight is being commemorated in a year-long series of events kicking off in February. Flight of the Silver Dart Centennial will include aviation shows (June 14-20,) flying demonstrations, kite festivals, flight simulations, and Aviation Week (August 16-22.)

The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo (July 1-8) is a spectacular show featuring 2000 world-class military and civilian performers. In the Tall Ships Nova Scotia Festival 2009, up to 50 world-class vessels will sail into Halifax harbor and around the province, July 16 to 26. The prestigious ICF World Senior Canoe Championship (August 12-16), will draw 1300 participants from 90 countries to Lake Banook in Dartmouth. For the 2009 Laser World Championships 560 sailors from 60 countries will compete on St. Margaret's Bay near Halifax (August 17-September 5.)

Did someone say lobster? Lobsterpalooza promises 36 days of "feasts and fun" including lobster suppers, whale watching tours and Gaelic music (May 24-June 30.) And the Pictou Lobster Carnival marks its 75th birthday (July 3-5.) More than 250 performers, in up to seven concerts a day, will entertain visitors at the 13th annual Celtic Colours International Festival, October 9 to 17.

Billed as the "biggest kitchen party in Atlantic Canada," the 14th annual PEI International Shellfish Festival in Charlottetown will be the place for seafood lovers September 18-20. Chowder cook-offs, oyster shucking contests and a chef's challenge are on the menu along with plenty of mussels and other delicious seafood. About a week later, the entire 2,000 square miles of Prince Edward Island will again be a food lover's paradise. From September 29 to October 4, the second edition of "Fall Flavours," will showcase more than 130 culinary events. Visitors can sample PEI's moonshine, learn about wine and cheese pairing, how to pickle and preserve, or opt for a more hands-on experience - digging clams, catching lobsters, harvesting oysters, even picking the island's famed potatoes.

Last year Prince Edward Island commemorated the 100th anniversary of "Anne of Green Gables" and this year the second annual Anne of Green Gables Country Fair, July 3 to 5, will kick off with a colorful parade followed by concerts, magic ands puppet shows, artisans demonstrations and pig races. Canada's longest running musical, Anne of Green Gables - The MusicalT, marks its 46th year (June 18-September 26.)