Kumo, the giant metal spider, and Long Ma, the dragon-horse, are awake today as La Machine kicks-off in Ottawa.
A massive crowd gathered at Ottawa City Hall on Friday morning to witness Long Ma's awakening. Some estimates pegged the crowd there and along Elgin Street at more than 50,000 people.
Long Ma is live in the ByWard Market ! @ctvottawa Listen to that sound ! pic.twitter.com/jiyG0SRQPL
— Megan Shaw (@meganshawCTV) July 28, 2017
She is awake and on the #move. #longma #lamachine#ottawa2017 pic.twitter.com/dw6n8WQmSM
— Mathieu Fleury (@MathieuFleury) July 28, 2017
Long Ma walked from city hall down Sussex Drive, and took a detour through the ByWard Market before coming to a rest outside the National Gallery of Canada.
Long Ma, the dragon-horse, roams the streets of the ByWard Market on Friday, July 28, 2017. (CTV Ottawa)
Thursday night, thousands of people gathered outside Notre Dame Cathedral on Sussex Drive last night to watch the giant mechanical spider wake up and descend to the ground.
I woke up like this #ottawa2017 #lamachine pic.twitter.com/e2zb3ztlAR
— 2017ottawa (@2017ottawa) July 28, 2017
INCREDIBLE! #LaMachine KUMO is awake in Ottawa #ottawa2017 #Ottawa2017Insiders ���� what a great way to kick off the 4 day event! pic.twitter.com/6JLh6GGe1X
— Breanna Jackson (@BreannaJacksonn) July 28, 2017
Lots happening now. Kumo descending. There's music. Crowd is getting snowed on. #LaMachine pic.twitter.com/7YXHrFR4SE
— Michael Woods (@michaelrwoods) July 28, 2017
#LaMachine is amazing. The visuals, the live music, the precision. It should be a great few days for #Ottawa2017! pic.twitter.com/7X43vGWo4e
— Rob Snow (@CFRASnow) July 28, 2017
LongMa, the giant 12-metre high, five metre wide dragon-horse, woke up at Ottawa City Hall this morning.
LongMa is snoring at Ottawa City Hall.
— Josh Pringle (@PringleJosh) July 28, 2017
The giant horse-dragon wakes up at 10 a.m. #ottawa2017 @2017ottawa #LaMachine pic.twitter.com/kXCh2RpPZ1
Long Ma later went on a walkabout of the Byward Market before ending up at outside Notre Dame Cathedral on Sussex Drive.
La Machine: Long Ma heads to the National Gallery.
Posted by CTV Ottawa on Friday, July 28, 2017
It’s all part of La Machine, the highly anticipated show invading Ottawa this weekend for Canada 150 celebrations. The show is called “The Spirit of the Dragon-Horse, with Stolen Wings”, and will play out through Lowertown, the Byward Market and Centretown over the weekend. Information on the four days of festivities is available on the Ottawa 2017 website.
After roaming the downtown streets, the two creatures will both end up at the Canadian War Museum Sunday night.
The City of Ottawa and Ottawa Police are warning the public that La Machine will cause traffic disruptions all weekend. There will be temporary road closures as LongMa and Kumo move through the downtown area.
People heading to work in the core, or coming downtown to see La Machine, are being urged to take public transit, walk, bike or carpool. A list of the traffic impacts is available on the City of Ottawa's website.
