THE BALLOON MAN

Wallenda walk tonight inspires full day of 'Side Show' activities

NIK WALLENDA

from: thedailynews.com
Friday, June 15, 2012
So, you missed out on getting one of the 4,000 vouchers available to watch Nik Wallenda’s attempt to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope but still want to be part of the sideshow.

Activities – from wacky to wonderful, according to tourism officials -- are scheduled all day, leading up to Wallenda’s walk.

Wallenda, great-grandson of the founder of the famous “Flying Wallendas,” will walk 1,800 feet across the Horseshoe Falls, the largest of the three that comprise Niagara Falls. The feat hasn’t been attempted since 1896 and required collaboration between New York and Canadian governments to approve the stunt. Stunting in Niagara Falls State Park has been banned for decades, but legislation was approved to allow this one-time daredevil act.

While tickets to watch Wallenda from Terrapin Point on Goat Island sold out quickly, you can still view the feat on jumbo screens and take part in a host events in Niagara Falls that day.

Many of the extra activities are planned around Old Falls Street, USA, a newly-branded three block thoroughfare that connects with the entrance of Niagara Falls State Park and serves as a “Welcome Center” for visitors.

“If you weren’t able to reserve a ticket to view the tightrope walk in person, you will enjoy joining other residents and visitors on Old Falls Street for our Side Show,” Ryan Coate, general manager of Old Falls Street and the Conference & Event Center Niagara Falls, said in a news release. “Throughout the past few weeks, our team has organized an extensive list of family-friendly activities planned throughout the day as we mark this momentous occasion in the history of Niagara Falls.”

The day-long party – hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.  what is being called the “Side Show” -- will feature live music, circus acts such as aerial acrobatics and fire breathers, a magician, dance troupes, stilt walkers and family activities, including a petting zoo. Jumbo screens erected in the Old Falls Street area will show live coverage of Wallenda’s walk, scheduled to take place during a live broadcast on ABC, which begins at 9 p.m.

Earlier in the day, some of the spectators will see the wire on which Wallenda will walk from their Maid of the Mist boat tour, the famous Niagara boat tour which has been taking visitors into the mist of Horseshoe Falls for more than 150 years.

Family activities at the Falls include the popular Cave of the Winds Tour at Niagara Falls State Park which features a series of wooden walkways to the famous Hurricane Deck, 20 feet from the rushing waters of Bridal Veil Falls. The Niagara USA Discovery Pass provides admission to all the attractions in the park, including the Niagara Adventure Theater, the Gorge Discovery Center, Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, and even all day transportation aboard the Niagara Scenic Trolley. Even more daredevils – performing sea lions, playful penguins, sharks and harbor seals – can be found at Aquarium of Niagara .

A schedule of Old Falls Street’s Side Show activities follows.
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