By Emil Tiedemann
This is perhaps the most bizarrely-titled adventure on "The Ultimate Alberta Bucket List," but one in which almost every Albertan is familiar with.
Like so many small cities and towns across Canada, rural Alberta is full of unique and sometimes peculiar roadside attractions that are often extreme-sized versions of some sort of item or object related to each town's character, culture, and/or history. From High Level's Giant Red Chairs & Totem Pole up north to Taber's Giant Corn Stalk down south, Alberta is full of these fascinating community beacons that become what some of these towns are best known for.
Case in point: Mundare and Glendon, Alberta.
Coming in at nearly 13 metres (42 feet) long and weighing around 5,440 kg (11,993 lbs), the “World’s Largest Garlic Sausage” (a.k.a. kovbasa or kielbasa) has to be one of the most famous roadside attractions in all of Alberta! The $120,000 central Alberta landmark – located about an hour east of Edmonton – was built in the early 2000s as a tribute to Stawnichy’s Meat Processing company, which started in 1959 and became famous province-wide for its kobasa.
About 150 km (93 miles) or 90 minutes northeast of Mundare is Glendon, home to the “Giant Perogy,” weighing approximately 2,700 kg (5,952 lbs), standing over 8 metres tall (27 feet), and serving as a tribute (since 1993) to the popular Ukrainian dish. According to former mayor Johnny Demienko, who thought up the unique sculpture, a giant fork was later added because the perogy on its own looked like “a cow pie or something.”
Mundare's Giant Sausage (left) and Glendon's Giant Perogy (right)
Sure, there isn't exactly much else to do but take photos and selfies once you're at these two famous roadside locales, but each respective town has far more to them than just these oversized sculptures. Both Mundare and Glendon are great places to visit outside of their "Giant" attractions, with friendly people, great food, and plenty of other things to see and do all year round.
So, if you find yourself in one of these "roadside attraction" towns, such as Mundare or Glendon, don't just stay for a quick selfie, have a look around and spend some time getting to know each of these places. It'll be worth your time, I promise!