Bands played live from atop two downtown Vernon buildings June 19, 2021, during Downtown Vernon Association’s Sunshine Day. (PixelSkyPhotography)

Vernon events up in the air after COVID-19 restrictions extended across Interior Health

Organizers left scrambling to find solutions or forced to cancel weekend events

  • Aug. 20, 2021 12:00 a.m.

Events planned for this weekend are up in the air after the province’s top doctor extended Central Okanagan’s health restrictions across the entire health authority.

Downtown Vernon Association pulled the plug on its Plaza Day slated for Saturday, Aug. 21.

Organizers behind the Vernon Public Art Gallery’s 13th annual Riot on the Roof are scrambling to find a solution to the 50-person maximum order for outdoor events.

In a press conference held Aug. 20, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that displacement due to wildfires in B.C.’s Interior has made it necessary to expand public health orders to the entire region.

Those orders include:

  • Mandatory masks in all indoor public spaces for people over the age of 12
  • Indoor gatherings limited to 6 people
  • Outdoor gatherings limited to 50 people
  • All high-intensity fitness classes suspended
  • Regular indoor fitness classes limited to 10 people

The province also discouraged non-essential travel to the Interior.

More to come.

READ MORE: Central Okanagan health orders now expanded to entire Interior Health region

READ MORE: Devastation captured from White Rock Lake wildfire


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Vernon Morning Star