Natural beauty and culture are intertwined in Peterborough, situated in the heart of the famed Kawarthas region, an hour and a half northeast of Toronto. Nicknamed the 'Electric City', as it was the first town in Canada to use electric streetlights, this smaller city illuminates for bountiful reasons. The Summer Festival of Lights has participants sharing blankets and enjoying musical concerts, fireworks and parades of lighted boats. George Street is filled with distinctive galleries and shops as well as the landmark Market Hall Performing Arts Centre. Water transportation is key to Peterbourgh’s history. A wonder of engineering is the mammoth Peterborough Lift Lock, reputed as the world’s highest hydraulic lift lock. It routinely shifts pleasure boats up and down—at the height of a seven storey building—on the Trent-Severn Waterway. The city’s reputation as a canoe building capital is solidified with the Canadian Canoe Museum, where visitors can explore the world's largest collection of canoes and kayaks.