Pembroke City Overview
(Go to the Pembroke Sport Hotels Section)

Pembroke is a city on the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley in eastern Ontario, Canada. Pembroke is the seat of Renfrew County.

Forestry has historically been the major industry in the area, but the nearby military base at Petawawa and nuclear power development at Chalk River have diversified the local economy. During the early eighties, Pembroke fell into hard times and some considered it to be a failing city with little long term devolpement. Combined with an aging population and little investement, it was difficult to sustain itself. In recent years, a turnaround has occurred with a greater Military presence and an insurgence in US based businesess who have made their home in the Pembroke area providing growth and prosperity.

Picturesque and unpretentious, Pembroke provides all the amenities of a city but, with full access to some of the most pristine wilderness and clean waterways within any major population center. This fact is not lost on the planers who have invested in add on attractions similar to a series of murals in the downtown area depicting the history of the city, from steam and logging to nuclear energy.

Tourist attactions are growing in number every year, particularily in the music and festival aspect. Recently, Pembroke has seen an surge of musical talent. For example, two members of Sam Roberts' band are from Pembroke, as is the indie rock band Blinker the Star and, provide some of the best blues found in the Eastern Ontario region on Wednesday nights in the local downtown core. The two bands held a benefit concert for the Pembroke General Hospital on May 29, 2004. Cavity Greg, another local band celebrated the release of their first album in the summer of 2005. After completing their first CD release tour, as well as the cavity tribute tour of Ontario, Cavity Greg has been booked for a tour of Canada's East Coast, Los Angeles, CA, as well as the release of their second CD "Turn it Down" in the upcoming 2006. Local band Goat Horn have also had success in music touring parts of ontario and some northern states.Goat Horn has also been confirmed for the 9th annual Headbanger's Open Air festival to be held July 14-15th 2006 outside of Hamburg, Germany.

Pembroke has great opportunities for sport tournaments of all kinds. Sport tourism is a part of Pembroke and features hockey, baseball, softball, basketball, soccer and a host of other sports.