Glebe getting ready for biggest Panda Game yet - CBC.ca

With Ottawa's largest ever Panda Game set for TD Place this weekend, Ottawa police are making sure Glebe residents are well-prepared.

Officers spent Friday morning knocking on doors in the neighbourhood, handing out flyers about today's football battle between the Carleton Ravens and the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.

The game has already sold out, with about 24,600 fans expected to stream through Lansdowne Park. That's a new attendance record, according to the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.

"I got a brochure saying the students were going to come out and clean up," said Michael Van Gentevoort, a long-time Glebe resident.

"I'm OK with it, as long as public decency is OK and garbage is under control."

Street parties like this 2018 bash in Sandy Hill are a common occurrence during the annual Panda Game. That's why Ottawa police have been out telling people living near TD Place to be prepared. (Radio-Canada)

Police on patrol 

Ottawa police have already warned football fans that officers would be on patrol in the Glebe, Old Ottawa South and Sandy Hill, watching for public drinking and intoxication, trespassing and other offences.

It's not bad. But it's not how I want to spend my Saturday.- Mary Dunlap, Glebe resident

Kenneth Cronin has lived in the Glebe for 21 years and said that while he expects "noise, activity and probably less parking" Saturday, he doesn't mind the celebrations.

"I visit cities that are vibrant and active and I'd like to live in a city that's vibrant and active," he said.

Mary Dunlap, another Glebe resident, said she's planning to escape to Bells Corners to avoid possible unrest.

"It does get a little crowded and zany", she said. "[The students] are having fun, it's not bad. But it's not how I want to spend my Saturday."

Kickoff is set for noon, with the TD Place doors opening at 10:30 a.m.

Mary Dunlap, a Glebe resident, says she'll spend her Saturday in Bells Corners in order to avoid the street parties that come with the Panda Game. (Yasmine Mehdi/CBC )

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October 05, 2019 at 03:00PM