Westside Daze Parade
The annual Westside Daze parade on Canada Day attracted thousands of fans and plenty of floats. Here, local veterans rode the float for Westbank Legion 288.
Leah Thordarson, president of the Westside Celebration Society which hosts Westside Daze, is thrilled with this year’s event, from the attendance, to the weather, to how everything came together. “It’s just been delightful,” she said. She estimated 25,000 people took in the three-day free family festival.
“The weather was perfect,” she said. “No rain. Warm, but not unbearably hot.”
This was the Àrst year Westside Daze could use the new amphitheatre and audiences were thrilled with the Totally Tom Petty and the Women of Rock concert that kicked off the festival Friday night.
With Gellatly Road closed, a small crowd gathered in Gellatly Bay Friday night for the Àreworks. After the spectacular Ànale, people were moved to spontaneously start singing O Canada. Plenty of candy and freezies were handed out at the Westside Daze parade Saturday morning. People dressed in red and white and lined the street to see over 80 Áoats.
Westbank First Nation Chief Roxanne Lindley was the honourary parade marshal,” said Thordarson.
Thordarson added that pairing the Kids’ Fair with Okanagan Day on Saturday afternoon worked beautifully, giving people the chance to enjoy the entertainment and culture Westbank First Nation had to offer. There were more kids than she had ever seen before, with the hedge maze seeing over 1,500 people go through. Baker Anja Dumas glowed as she made the Àrst cut in the giant Canada Day cake she created with a Canada 150 Plus design complete with balloons and an Ogopogo. New this year, the Saturday afternoon’s trunk sale was deemed a success as 18 people turned up to sell their household treasures they no longer wanted while others scooped up the bargains. “It can only get bigger and better,” Thordarson said. Saturday night’s Elvis tribute concert saw the amphitheatre and the surrounding hillside filled with music lovers, most of whom stayed right through to the Kinshira Àre dancers show at 10:15 p.m.
With five churches participating, Sunday morning’s Community Worship Celebration attracted almost 500 people. “It grows and gets better every year,” said Thordarson.
The response to the Sunday morning pancake breakfast saw almost 300 people lined up for pancakes more than double the usual number.
Judges had a hard time determining the winners at the car, truck and motorcycle show and shine Sunday. The Àeld was Àlled with 100 vehicles and organizers turned some away.
This year’s show attracted a DeLorean, Shelby Cobras, a nice Porsche and lots of hot rods. The Àeld was packed with people taking in the gorgeous vehicles.
Even the Sunday night concert with Rann Berry and the Random Act attracted a small crowd. MP Dan Albas presented Westside Daze volunteers with a certiÀcate of appreciation and a parliamentary pin by to recognize their contribution to the community as Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary of confederation.
For Thordarson, the work she puts into Westside Daze is all about seeing people laugh and smile.
“It just makes me so happy to see people so happy,” she said.
Westside Daze relies on volunteers for its success and a number of volunteer positions will be opening for next year. For more information on volunteer opportunities, e-mail: admin@westsidedaze.com.
Even more photos of this past weekend’s activities will appear in Friday’s edition of Westside Weekly.