With July fast approaching, Connect Church is taking the lead on organizing the Canada Day celebration at Moir Park and they’re hoping to build off the success from last year.
“Last year was great, we had a phenomenal turnout,” said Pastor Frank Hackett, Some numbers said 4,000 others numbers said 6,000 so it’s hard to say.
“It was extremely well attended and an awesome family day.”
This year, the theme seems to be bigger and better.
There will be three stages—the main stage, a kids stage and a side stage for buskers that will be facing a mini-farmer’s market.
Musical acts include Shred Kelly, The Testers, The Good Ole Goats, Dani Strong and the Connect Band.
In addition to music, there will be Glow Zumba, PT the Clown, Retro Aerobics, buskers, games, vendors, clowns, bouncy castles and more.
“People like a lot of variety of things to do,” said Hackett. “People want to have their kids jump on a bouncy castle, then they want to sit and listen to music, then they want to go pick from 10 different food vendors, then they want to go throw a frisbee, then they want to go run through a sprinkler for a while.
“Having a variety of different activities and things to do with your kids seemed to be a big hit.”
Everything starts at 5 p.m. with a photo op at 7:30 where people—who are encouraged to wear red and white—can gather en masse to take the shape of a Canadian flag.
Of course, one of the main attractions will be the fireworks to wrap up the celebrations.
“The fellow who’s putting it on does a great job and we’ve raised about $11,000 for him just on the fireworks,” said Hackett.
It’s the second straight year for having the Canada Day celebrations at Moir Park, which comes with a few challenges.
“Everybody be prepared to walk for a while afterwards or wait in line if you do get a spot in the parking lot. It’s going to be 20 minutes before you get out of there and it is what it is,” said Hackett.
Additionally, southern B.C. is currently experiencing a heat wave, so Hackett warns people to be sun-smart.
“We’ve got some cool-down stations now that we’ve added now that we’ve seen the forecast,” he said. “We want people to be sun-smart, bring a lawn chair, but maybe bring an umbrella if you’ve got it, or at least a high SPF sunscreen and we’ll have lots of water there for people to stay hydrated.”
While Connect is organizing the event, it wouldn’t be possible without the support of the business community in Cranbrook. There is a $35,000 budget for the celebrations and roughly $31,000 has been raised through sponsorships.
“It’s been great to see the businesses step up and make it happen,” Hackett said.
If businesses wish to help sponsor the Canada Day celebrations, contact Sarah Turk at turk@connectcranbrook.com or call 250-421-3858.
For more information on Canada Day celebrations and activities, visit www.ourcanadaday.com.
