It’s a two-parade weekend in Parksville, starting Friday with the biggest little parade on the Island.
Canada Day festivities — organized by the Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce — begin Friday with the popular parade at 10 a.m. We expect to see Flyin’ Phil St. Luke in the parade, always a highlight for locals.
The parade will force some road closures. The Island Highway from Shelly Road to the Alberni Highway will be closed from approximately 9 a.m. to noon Friday.
The rest of the festivities start at noon in Community Park. Residents and visitors alike are reminded there is no parking in Community Park on Canada Day (except for those displaying handicapped parking passes).
Two shuttle buses have been organized by the chamber of commerce, with vehicles and drivers donated by Harris Chevrolet and Joe Cunningham Ford. They will move people from parking areas around the city to the park and back.
O Canada will start the fun in Community Park at noon, followed by a cake cutting and the start of the entertainment (headlined by Jerry Doucette — see story about the entertainment on page A25 today).
The fireworks extravaganza, often attracting as many as 20,000 people to the beach, starts at 10:15 p.m. Doucette and his band (“Mama let that boy play some rock and roll . . .”) are expected to take the stage at 9:15 p.m. and again after the fireworks.
On Saturday, the Ballenas Secondary School grads take to the streets starting at 5 p.m. for their parade. For more details about road closures in Parksville for this event, see the story we published Thursday (www.pqbnews.com/news/384145711.html).
— NEWS Staff
