Diversity planned for Canada Day celebrations

By Lethbridge Herald on June 16, 2023.

Lethbridge Herald file photo Two children show their Canadian pride during Canada Day festivities at Henderson Lake in this file photo.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The City of Lethbridge is inviting everyone to take part on the family friendly activities during the Canada Day celebrations happening at Henderson Lake Park and Galt Gardens. 

Canada Day committee chair with the City of Lethbridge, Sarah Burton said activities at Henderson Lake Park will take place between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. on July 1 and at Galt Gardens will take place between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. 

“Henderson lake has bands, dance performances, food trucks, face painting, balloon artists, a youth market and fireworks. Galt gardens has artists as well, they have a breakfast sandwich breakfast going on in support of Interfaith Foodbank and a car show hosted by Le Baron’s Car Club,” said Burton. 

She said Canada Day is one of their most attended events for a single day event offered by the city. 

“Galt Gardens will see roughly around 4,000 to 5,000 people, and Henderson Lake will see upwards of 15,000 to 20,000 people in the day,” said Burton. 

She said something new people can expect at the Henderson Lake celebrations is a youth market after a successful test run last year with one youth vendor. 

“We decided to invite other like-minded youth, 17 (years old) and under, they can come between noon and 4 p.m. and sell their wares. For that we have 10 vendors that have applied so far this year,” said Burton. 

She said some of the youth vendors are selling their own artwork, jewelry and soaps among other things. 

“We thought it be a really fun way to get kids involved in Canada Day and involved in the entrepreneurial system,” said Burton. 

She said it is very important to expose young children to entrepreneurial opportunities, so they can grasp the basic principle and be able to successfully use those skills in adulthood. 

“We are charging them a very small amount, so they get to learn that when they come to a place there is a bill that has to be paid, a service that needs to be rendered and they get a certain criterion for that,” said Burton. 

She said the youth vendors go through a mini contract they have to sign, where some rules are given that they have to agree to and abide by. 

When it comes to incorporating Blackfoot culture into the Canada Day Celebrations, Burton said O Canada will be sung in English, Blackfoot and French, but the celebrations in Lethbridge are geared towards diversity of its residents. 

“For us for Canada Day we view it as a celebration of Lethbridge and the community that Lethbridge is. Lethbridge is really diverse, we have many cultures in Lethbridge and it’s fabulous to see them all come out and be in the same place and just have a day that we get to celebrate how amazing it is to be in Lethbridge,” said Burton. 

She said during the celebrations at both locations, security will be present to make sure people enjoy the day without any issues. 

When it comes to being prepared for weather changes, Burton said they have an evacuation plan in place that was drafted in 2011 and it gets monitored and updated constantly. 

“We have different things in place, and we have had rain or different issues and we’ve had to kind of slow down for a few minutes and then pick right back up again, but we’ve been really fortunate, we haven’t had any major issues since 2008,” said Burton. 

For this year, celebrations in the northeast end of Henderson Lake Park will begin at noon. Activities include the food hub, kids zone, youth market, live performers and fireworks. 

The kids zone will have many activities including bouncy castles, family friendly theatre shows, and face painting. 

The main stage will host performances throughout the day with new acts and fan favourites that will keep the music and entertainment going all day. 

Guest speakers will take place at 4 p.m. and the celebrations will conclude with a firework display at 11 p.m. which Burton said it will be bigger and better than last year. 

“We’ve got sky art fireworks coming and they’re going to put on a show like no other,” said Burton. 

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