Mushers from all over the world are coming to Haliburton this weekend.
Coming up this weekend is the Haliburton Highlands Dogsled Derby, an annual event that sees attendees from all over the world. The two-day event kicks off on Saturday at 9:30am and goes until 3:15pm. The second day of races start at 9:00am and end at 2:15pm.
The derby itself goes on at the Pinestone Resort when the mushers and their dogs travel several kilometres of trail in behind the resort. According to the organizers, the winner of the derby will take home a $5,000 purse.
Any members of the public hoping to see the derby can go to the starting gate and see the dogsled teams take off from there says the organizers. But they note if you are going to come you should leave your pets at home as they can distract the racers, as well they ask that people try and avoid making unusual noises because that too could distract the racers. The organizers say that you can, however, bring your camera and record the races, and you will be able to chat with the mushers before and after the races.
When the races go off the dogs/mushers will be competeing in various categories including one dog skijoring, one or two dogs skijoring, four dog race, six dog race, and eight dog race.
the forecasted weather for the race is a risk of snow and a high of minus 16.