The Biggest Christmas Tree Festival has been cancelled for the first time in its nine-year history due to cold weather.
The annual tree-lighting event and Santa Clause parade that kicks off the Festival of Trees was originally scheduled to take place this evening, but the event committee decided to call it off as the temperature is forecasted to dip to minus 30 C tonight.
“Usually what we state in any entertainment and parade agreement is that if we reach minus 25 C or colder with the wind chill we cancel,” said Lindsey Knudson, co-chair of the Biggest Christmas Tree Festival.
“And (it) is looking like it’s probably going to be minus 30 C without the wind chill. Just with the concern of everyone, performers, the public, the risk of frostbite is pretty high at minus 30 C.”
Environment Canada says the risk for frostbite increases rapidly once the wind chill goes below minus 27 C and that exposed skin can freeze in 10 to 30 minutes once the temperature hits minus 28 C or lower.
The event will not be rescheduled as Knudson said they don’t want to interfere with the Festival of Trees, which will still be taking place at the Westerner grounds this weekend.
She added that the big Christmas tree will likely be lit along with the other Christmas lights in City Hall Park around 6 p.m. tonight.
“Everyone has been very understanding and understands that you don’t want to put the public out there in this,” Knudson said. “But yeah, I think there is a sense of disappointment, especially among the committee. We’ve worked for the past three to four months pretty hard on it.”
The extreme chill and frostbite risk also has various agencies stepping up to ensure no one is left out in the cold.
Doug Power, assistant to the executive director at Berachah Place, made the call to keep the centre open three-and-a-half hours longer than usual on Monday so to provide a warm place for Red Deer’s homeless population.
He said 64 individuals came by yesterday, which is roughly double what is considered a normal turnout.
“We are expecting higher than normal volumes, especially for feeding them lunch all week, Tuesday to Friday,” Power said.
“We’re hoping that the warm up comes when they say it’s suppose to.”
Environment Canada is forecasting a high of minus 2 C and a low of minus 16 C by Friday.
In addition to providing a warm shelter during the day, Berachah Place gives people the opportunity to have a warm shower, eat lunch and take a hat or mitts from the clothing bank. Power said they are always looking for donations of adult winter wear, which can be dropped off at 4611-50th Ave.
Safe Harbour is also looking for seasonal clothing donations, including lightly-used winter boots of all sizes, which can be dropped off at 5246-53 Ave.
“That always concerns us a little bit because we want to make sure no one is stuck walking to one of the shelters,” Colleen Markus, director of emergency services at Safe Harbour, said of the cold weather.
Safe Harbour operates three winter shelters, which provide about 70 spaces for individuals needing a warm place to spend the night. Markus said they are currently experiencing a turnout between 15 and 20 people a night at each of the shelters.
A drastic dip in the temperature doesn’t always result in an influx of individuals seeking a spot at a shelter, Markus noted, as she said more people are more likely to stay wherever they may be, such as on someone’s couch. So space is not a concern.
“Our main concern is making sure that people get to where they need to go,” she said. “That there aren’t people out there wondering around.”
She said the various agencies that serve the local homeless population stay in very close contact in cold spells such as this in an effort to keep track of anyone travelling between facilities.
“As a community, we work really closely to make sure that no one slips through the cracks, that all the doors are open that needs to be open to keep people safe,” Markus said.
Today’s high is to be around minus 19 C while the low will hover around minus 30 C.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com