July 1 is the day the Canadians celebrate Canada’s
birthday. This year brings an even
bigger reason to celebrate as it has been 150 years since the Constitution Act
was enacted. When formed in 1867, it was
called the British North American Act then was renamed in 1982, the year the
Canada Act was passed.
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| The large crowds at Riverside Park |
Kamloops has drawn a huge crowd for our annual celebration
at Riverside Park to celebrate the 150
th birthday. There were vendors with art that shows the
talents of many local artist, too many to mention but a very impressive
gathering of excellent art in many forms.
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| Wyatt Purcha, actor & director |
Wyatt of the Project (X) Theatre is joining others from that
group to mingle with the crowd and let everyone know about their X FEST 2017 productions
to be held at Prince Charles Park from
July 10 - 29, 2017. We enjoyed the Wizard of Oz last year and
look forward to seeing The Jungle Book and Rapunzel this year. For tickets and info
click here.
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| Beach of Riverside Park returns after flood |
This scene is a great change from only a few weeks ago when
the river water was so high it reached the sidewalk edge. The level is now much safer and allows for
swimming and boating on our Thompson River.
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| Playtimes at Riverside Park |
There is no shortage of entertainment nor young ones to
enjoy the waterpark, playground equipment and bouncy castles in the shade of
the large old trees in Riverside Park.
The lineup for face painting was a long one.
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| Multicultural Folkfest |
The Kamloops Multicultural Society hosted a Folkfest at the
park with cultural displays and international food booths. A great opportunity to try something
new.
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| Bandshell speeches |
There was a great flag display in front of the bandshell and
large tents that offered shade for those who wished to have a chair to sit in
for the entertainment and speakers who were there to offer greetings on this
special birthday for Canada.
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| Colorful spectators |
There was no shortage of the color red nor of the maple leaf
which signifies our flag. The red and
white was amazing to see and added to the celebration feel to the day. The park
was so full of people wearing special clothing that there could have been a
fashion show of patriotic clothing!
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| Pledging allegiance to Canada |
The RCMP were represented at this ceremony and this
gentleman in red serge led us in the English version of pledging allegiance to
Canada. All who were there, stood with
their right hand raised and repeated after him.
We remained standing and he was followed by another RCMP who did the
same in French. Thankfully, she did tell
us we did not have to repeat after her. I
heard several sighs of relief.
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| Birthday Cake |
Happy Birthday on this special 150th year of Canada
becoming a nation. A large cake was
waiting to be cut and shared among those who were participating in this
celebration.
Many acts of entertainment were held at the park including
Pokotillo Ukrainian Dancers and the Desert Sounds Harmony Chorus following the
introductory speeches. Lots to enjoy and
much to see. The day ended with a
fabulous fireworks display.
