A day of fun, food, community and 12 hours of entertainment will be capped off by a fireworks display to celebrate Canada Day Sunday.
Delores Coghill, Red Deer Cultural Heritage Society manager, said the day is a chance to celebrate being Canadian.
“A lot of it is just people coming down, bringing their blankets and just enjoying the day,” said Coghill. “It’s just a day to celebrate, it doesn’t matter who or what you are, just enjoy being a Canadian.”
Starting at 11:30 a.m., the Bower Ponds stage will feature a wide array of entertainment including: St. James Gate; Phillippine, Country Pride and the Fanatullen Scandinavian dancers; Brad Abel; the Red Deer and District Chinese Community Society and Alecia Aichelle.
The day will conclude with a fireworks show at 11 p.m.
Nine food trucks will be serving up a variety of dishes on site. There will also be a bouncy house, face-painting and hair-braiding.
At 2 p.m., there is a formal ceremony followed by the cutting and serving of Canada Day cake.
There is no parking at the park, but a park and ride service is available from Sorensen Station starting at 10:45 a.m. There is free parking downtown and the bus costs $1 for adults, 50 cents for youth aged six to 17 and seniors and children aged five and under are free.
No dogs, or pets in general, are allowed at the park during the Canada Day festivities.
In Sylvan Lake, the festivities start at 10 a.m. and include a family area, food trucks, a massage event, entertainment, the Sylvan Lake Sailing Club Canada Day charity race, march of Canadians, flag raising ceremony, cake, street dance, hypnosis show and fireworks at 11 p.m.
In Blackfalds, there will be a free community party at Tayles Park in the afternoon starting at 1 p.m., followed by an evening concert with Cole Malone and concluding with fireworks at 11 p.m.
In Penhold, an event will be held at the Lincoln Street Rec Centre from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and includes a barbecue, bouncy castles, face painters, balloon animals and more.
In Lacombe, a daylong series of events starts with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. at the English Estates Centre and includes horse drawn wagon rides, a flag raising ceremony and barbecue at the Lacombe Legion, a garden tea party. It concludes with free music from Pete Stone and The Steve Arsenault Band and a fireworks display at Cranna Lake.
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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