Photo Credit: EverythingGP stock photo

By Shane Clausing

Canada Day in GP

Double fireworks display, reverse parade planned for Canada Day in Grande Prairie

Jun 9, 2020 | 4:43 PM

With Canada Day just three weeks away, the City of Grande Prairie has unveiled plans for its celebrations for July 1.

With COVID-19 in mind, festivities will look a little bit different than past years, but the city is still going ahead to celebrate the country’s 153rd birthday.

The biggest change this year to the festivities is that though the city will be putting on its annual fireworks, they will be utilizing two different locations across the city. Firework displays will begin at 11:45 p.m. on Canada Day at Muskoseepi Park and the CKC east football field, next to St. Joseph’s Catholic High School.

Normally the city has one large display of fireworks at Muskoseepi Park, but this year to accommodate physical distancing, the city has opened up a second site.

“We are really excited to celebrate in some form, even though it’s not the traditional way we’re used to,” said Corbin Welsh with the City of Grande Prairie. “We are really excited to celebrate with two locations this year.”

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People are encouraged to watch fireworks that are nearest to their neighborhood and remain in their vehicles to view the displays. There will be local security at the firework displays to ensure that physical distancing is being met.

Welsh tells EverythingGP that if all goes well this year with the two fireworks displays, she could see the city continuing with two separate displays in the future. She says there were even discussions about hosting a third fireworks display this year.

Meantime, the annual Canada Day Parade held along 100 Avenue from 98 Street to 102 Street will go ahead, but with some key changes.

This year the City is calling its annual parade a Reverse Parade and Car Show. It is being held in the same locations downtown and will take place from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Businesses located downtown are encouraged to decorate their shops for the occasion, and the city is also looking at shutting down a stretch of road so people can drive by and look at some antique show cars.

Grande Prairie residents are encouraged to drive down the road and check out the displays and car show throughout the day. Security will be on location, ensuring that people slowdown in the downtown area so residents can enjoy the scenery.

More details on how the antique car show will work are still being discussed and will be announced closer to Canada Day.

“Obviously we can’t have the same parade where people can roam around and walk around in groups so we tried to figure out a different way we can do it and luckily we were able to pull this off. I think it will still be a fun aspect and it will allow people to get out and do something during the day,” said Welsh.

For those who don’t own a vehicle and can’t drive down the parade route or check out the fireworks, the city is also encouraging residents to participate in activities online.

Several new activities have been launched by the city and include a Canada Day door and balcony decorating contest, an outdoor scavenger hunt and a contest called “the Canadian checklist”.

The balcony decorating contest encourages residents to decorate their balconies and submit their designs to programming@cityofgp.com. Residents are also encouraged to upload their pictures to Facebook or Instagram using #CityofGPCanadaDay. The contest runs until June 28 and the winner will be contacted on June 29. The winner of the balcony contest will receive a Canada Day Barbecue Package. The winner is picked at random.

The Grande Prairie outdoor scavenger hunt begins next week on June 15 and runs until June 28.

Residents of all ages are encouraged to participate in the contest. Residents must download a special scavenger hunt app to compete, which will allow them to complete missions and get a chance to win prizes. Details about what app you will have to download are still in the works. If you have one of the top five scores in the hunt, you will be entered into a draw for the winning prize.

Finally, the Canadian Checklist contest will see how many Canadian items you have in your house. You can download the list at the City of Grande Prairie website and upload your results to Facebook or Instagram.