Saturday marks the 108th anniversary of the Halifax explosion, and the city has a memorial service planned.
The ceremony, lead by city councillor Virginia Hinch of District 8, begins at 9 a.m. at Fort Needham Memorial Park.
It will begin with opening remarks, a moment of silence, and then singing the national anthem.
After that, the city will deliver remarks, then recognize the survivors, followed by a wreath laying. The memorial ends with a prayer and music.
In 1917, war was raging across Europe, and war ships were moving through Halifax.
A Norwegian ship was carrying relief supplies to Belgium as it left the harbour at eight in the morning, while the SS Mont-Blanc was heading up the harbour, carrying a full load of explosives.
After a miscommunication about how the ships would get by in the narrow harbour, they collided, and at 9:05 a.m., people nearby saw a blinding white flash of what would be the biggest man-made explosion before the nuclear bomb.
More than 1,900 people died instantly, and 9,000 more were injured. Nearly all of the north-end of Halifax was totally destroyed, according to a news release from the city.
Every year the city commemorates the historic event to honour those who died, the survivors, and the people who helped in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed.
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