Kelvin Carl Christensen showcases his artistry at last year’s Lacombe Culture & Harvest Festival. The Lacombe Regional Tourism’s Hidden Hooks campaign has hidden the painted hooks in business around the city in a scavenger hunt for locals and visitors to enjoy. Lacombe Express photo

Be on the lookout for ‘Hidden Hooks’ in Lacombe, Alberta

September 5, 2023 // by Mark Weber

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Anglers are accustomed to looking for fish in their travels, but the community of Lacombe, Alta. has hidden fish hooks to find.

Hidden Hooks is a new campaign from Lacombe Regional Tourism aimed at bolstering awareness about the qualities of the City’s downtown, not to mention the greater community at large.

At last year’s Lacombe Culture & Harvest Festival, several artists created large, colourfully-painted fish hooks as striking works of art.

Currently, those five hooks have been hidden in local businesses around Lacombe, says Viridiana Blignaut, marketing coordinator with Lacombe Regional Tourism.

“They had been painting the hooks two days in a row, and … everyone who was walking around the market was able to see the project being creative ‘live’. Those are the hooks that are hidden in downtown Lacombe now as a kind of scavenger hunt,” she says.

Various hints and riddles are posted at lacombetourism.com that seekers can use to help guide them in their search. Folks can also pick up brochures around town with a QR code that has all the details as well.

Once a person finds a hook, they’re encouraged to take a photo and post it to #DiscoverLacombe and tag ‘Lacombe Tourism’ on their social media accounts.

“The idea is to get visitors involved and to go to local businesses and to help build that community vibe. It will be a fun activity to do in either summer or winter because the hooks are hidden in places where they can be all year long,” Blignaut says.

“The local businesses have been awesome to work with, and they are also keen to add some activities to give our visitors different and unique experiences.”

At this month’s Culture & Harvest Festival, Sept. 23 and 24, artists will create even more of these hooks for future ‘scavenger hunts.’

This year’s festival promises to be bigger and better than ever, with more organizers and helping hands onboard, too.

“We just want to see the community gather there and for (visitors) to also see more of what Lacombe represents as well.

“There will also be so many attractions that people will see which are different from last year.”

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