Why Does Transcona Love Pink Flamingos?

The Hi Neighbour festival is an annual summer celebration with rides, music, a parade and just general fun. It encourages people to stop ignoring the people who live in their neighbourhoods, go over to them, and strike up a chat. Who knows? Your neighbour might even be a pretty great person! People from across the city flock to Transcona and walk amongst themselves (sometimes jokingly) about Transcona’s obsession with pink lawn flamingos. As a proud Transcona resident (and the owner of a pink flamingo) I decided to get to the bottom of the matter by chatting with the folks at the Transcona Museum.

The First Flamingo

As far as anyone can tell the first person to own a pink flamingo was Dr. Murdoch MacKay. Dr. MacKay was a long-time resident of Transcona and vacationed with his wife in Florida. It was during one of these vacations that Dr. MacKay noticed how popular flamingos were in Florida and that many people set up a flamingo statue, or an entire flock, in their front yards. Dr. MacKay decided to bring this tradition to Transcona and was allegedly the first person to set up a flamingo in his yard on Victoria Street.

Dr. MacKay was a distinguished citizen and apparently a trendsetter because once people saw the good doctor had a flamingo, EVERYONE wanted one. Shortly after Dr. MacKay’s trip, Flamingos began popping up in yards across Transcona and a community was united thanks to a long-legged, shrimp-loving, pink bird.

Hi Neighbour

The Hi Neighbour Festival runs this week (June 3-5) with a whole bunch of fun events for your family. If you find yourself in Transcona celebrating this weekend, make sure to share the story of Dr. MacKay’s favourite bird with your group! Enjoy the opening ceremonies, Saturday’s parade, and Sunday’s pancake breakfast, and keep an eye out for Transcona’s other favourite character, Hi Neighbour Sam!

Hope to see you at Hi Neighbour!