Canadians are set to take over Central Park in New York with the help of some local Saskatchewan entrepreneurs.

The first ever Canada Day in New York - a free cultural, sport and music festival that will be held June 29 in Central Park - is being produced by Canada Day International, the organizers behind the hugely popular Canada Day in London.

Chad Molleken, originally from Regina, is the executive director of Canada Day International.

As well, the ticketing and crowdfunding site Picatic (founded in Saskatoon) will handle the crowdfunding part of the event.

"We want to try and encourage as many Canadians to come out and take over Central Park," said Picatic CEO and co-founder Jayesh Parmar.

Parmar and Molleken ended up getting in touch with each other about the project while both were in New York.

"(We) were sitting there in Midtown Manhattan having coffee and both of us are Saskie boys," Parmar said.

Canada Day International was looking to expand to another city, but wanted to make sure there were enough people willing to come to the event.

That's where Picatic comes in. If 5,000 people sign up for the event (which is free) it will proceed, along with a lot of corporate dollars, Parmar said.

He doesn't think they will have a problem reaching that number since there are more than 300,000 Canadians residing in New York, which could make this event one of largest celebrations of Canada Day outside of Canada.

The festivities, taking place at the Naumberg Bandshell in Central Park, include photo opportunities with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a food festival featuring top Canadian chefs, yoga and a charitable street hockey tournament with NHL players and alumni.

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Event Date:
Jun 29th, 2013
Naumberg Bandshell & SummerStage
Center Drive
New York City , New York

Schedule:
10:30 - Canada Day Opens
Ceremonial Drop of the puck
Hockey Games 1 - 4
Pancake Breakfast - Picnic in the Park
11:00 - Meet the Mounties - Canadian Community Tent & Cooking Demonstration 1
12:00 - First Nations Performance on Bandshell Stage & Cooking Demonstration 2
13:00 - Cooking Demonstration 3
13:00 - Meet the Mounties - TD Tent
13:30 - First Nations Performance on Bandshell Stage
14:00 - Cooking Demonstration 4 & Hockey Matches 5-8
15:00 - Cooking Demonstration 5 & Photo Opportunities with the Mounties on Bandshell Stage
16:45 - Hockey: Bronze Final
17:15 - Hockey: Gold and Silver Final
17:45 - Central Park Cup Presentation
18:00 - Closing of Bandshell and start of Canada Day Concert with Plenary Greetings
18:10 - First Nations Performance
18:30 - Brasstronaut
19:15 - Spirit of the West
20:00 - Joel Plaskett