In honour of Canada’s 150th birthday, the Winding Rivers Arts & Performance Society (WRAPS) will once more be hosting a free Canada Day event on Saturday, July 1 at the Heritage Park; and on the eve of Canada’s anniversary, people are invited to a very special theatrical presentation that shows Canada’s history as you’ve never seen it before.
The Canada Show: The Complete History of Canada in One Hour! has spent the last several months holding sold-out performances on The Canadian Fringe tour. Now the show—a Monster Theatre production—comes to Ashcroft, with an all-ages show that presents history in a fun but enlightening way.
“It’s history—without all the boring stuff!” says Edmonton’s Vue Weekly. During the fast-paced hour, the audience is taken from the Bering Straight Theory to Jean Chrétien via skits and songs. Along the way, there are guest appearances by famous Canadians including William Shatner, the Mackenzie Brothers, and the “Who’s on first” team of Cabot and Costello.
The show is presented by three bickering historians—one English, one French, and one who’s just trying to hold everything together—who cover 50,000 years of Canada’s history, including all our Prime Ministers, the FLQ crisis (which somehow becomes a hockey game), and of course a giant dancing beaver. “It’s history as it should be: entertaining,” says Surrey’s Civic Theatre Review.
The Canada Show will be held on the playing field beside the Ashcroft HUB. The show runs from 7 to 8 p.m. (no intermission) on Friday, June 30, and tickets are $20 per person at the door. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and get set to celebrate Canada’s birthday the way we Canucks do best: through laughter, merriment, and song.
On Saturday, July 1 WRAPS will once again be hosting the Canada Day celebrations in the Heritage Park on Railway, so bring your chairs or blankets to take in the fun. Children of all ages are encouraged to decorate their bikes in red-and-white in honour of Canada’s birthday, and bring them down to the park for the bike parade; bikes should be at the park by 10:30 a.m.
Face painting will also start at 10:30, and the bike judging will take place at 10:45, with medals presented in a variety of categories and age groups. The Ashcroft/Cache Creek Rotary Club has provided funding for the bike parade awards.
At 11 a.m. an Honour Guard comprised of Legion members, the Cadets, RCMP officers, and Ashcroft firefighters will make its way to the gazebo, followed by the singing of “O Canada” and a fly-past. Starting at 11:10 there will be opening remarks and welcomes, with music starting at 11:30.
Communities in Bloom will be unveiling a new mosaic celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday, and the Lions will be there to provide complimentary hot dogs and drinks (courtesy of WRAPS) starting at 11:30, with a ceremonial cake-cutting (with ice cream) at noon.
The Village of Ashcroft has once again made the pool available for all, free of charge, from 1 to 4 p.m.; and Royal Canadian Legion Branch #113 (Ashcroft) will be holding a free Canada Day event at the Legion when the WRAPS event ends.
WRAPS would like to acknowledge the support of its Canada Day sponsors, including financial aid from the Village of Ashcroft.
