Canada Day celebrations won’t really work but fireworks show still a go
Canada Day is not cancelled, but the local committee that organizes the annual mass gathering in Kin Coulee Park says it cannot envision how that can be accomplished just 10 weeks from now under current health orders.
Instead, they plan to prepare video compilations of musical acts and activities from over the decades and hope to provide a massive fireworks show — as usual — on July 1.
“Its heartbreaking but we won’t be abandoning it,” said Garry Proctor, the chair of the Canid Day Organizing Committee. “To think how the government would allow us to put on the usual (day-long) festival with everything that’s going on, it’s a dream. So we’re giving ourselves time to adjust.”
That effort includes talks with the city and health officials about how to best avoid crowds gathering in usual spots and lookouts to see the pyrotechnics display that can be seen from communities overlooking the Seven Persons Creek coulee.
Proctor is confident that can be done safely, and the committee has already put the deposit down on a “major” fireworks display this year.
If cancelled, the money will the carried over to 2021 celebrations, he said, noting that the committee’s major source of revenue — charity casinos — has dried up completely due to health restrictions in place throughout the province.
The outdoor celebration could also be live-streamed of broadcast on traditional television, said Proctor. It would follow mini-documentaries that include footage shot in years past featuring bands, crowds, kiddies events, and other touchstones of the Dominion Day celebrations.
“We’ve got a lot of footage dating back years and years, and we’re going to be putting it all together,” he said. “It might not be the same, but I think it will come together well.”
The announcement follows a spate of cancellations of events large and small in Medicine Hat since the province brought in crowd size restrictions of 15 people in mid-March.
On Thursday the Calgary Stampede announced its annual fair would not go ahead this July as AHS clarified rules about large gatherings.
“I know summer festivals and very important for many people in Alberta,” said Deena Hinshaw during an afternoon update.
“This decision was not taken lightly but we need to do whatever we can to stop the spread of COVID-19.”