Two hours northeast of Edmonton is a little piece of paradise. Lac La Biche County, with a population hovering around 10,000, is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity and historical significance.

It boasts 150 lakes – many of them with sandy shores and teeming with fish – rare birds and flowers, provincial parks and Alberta’s only back-country canoe circuit.

It boasts a cultural mosaic practically unheard of in rural Canada, including people of French, Ukrainian, White Russian, Lebanese, First Nation and Métis descent.

It boasts historic landmarks such as the Lac La Biche Mission, home of Alberta’s first grist mill and first printing press, and tributes to important figures of the past, including explorer David Thompson, immortalized on an impressive statue down by the lakeshore in Lac La Biche.

It even boasts a myriad of festivals for the whole family to enjoy, including ice races, traditional pow wows, mud bogs, rodeos and cultural events.

Edmonton may be Festival City but the Lac La Biche Region is definitely Festival Country. To learn much more about the county, visit www.LacLaBicheRegion.com.