This year’s Canada Day celebrations in Peterborough, on the 150th birthday of Confederation, are going to be spectacular.
The highlight of the day is the Canada Day parade, but there is a lot more happening on Saturday, July 1st than just the parade itself.
Pre-parade ceremonies and events being at 9 a.m. at Peterborough City Hall and the appropriately named Confederation Park. A pancake breakfast will be served from 9 to 11 a.m. by the East Peterborough Lion’s Club while live music will be performed by the Dixie Cats Band (9 to 9:30 a.m.), the Northern Roads Band (9:45 to 10:30 a.m.), and the Peterborough Pop Ensemble (10:45 to 11:30 a.m.).
There will also be lots of activities for the kids, including the Tap Snap photo booth (9:30 to 11:30 a.m.), the Paddling Puppeteers (9:30 to 10:30 a.m.), and face painting by Face by 2 (9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.).
The Children’s Bicycle Contest takes place in Confederation Park from 11 to 11:45 a.m. Children from five to 12 years old are invited to bring their decorated bikes to the contest and have some fun.
Kids can even ride their decorated bikes in the parade! And in case any bikes need some last-minute repairs, Peterborough Green Up and B!KE will be on hand with a repair stand.
Morello’s Your Independent Grocer will once again be donating Canada’s birthday cake, which will be available for all to sample between 10 and 10:30 a.m. We expect this year’s Canada 150 cake will be something to behold (and taste).
From 11:30 to 11:50 a.m., local dignitaries will be delivering speeches, followed by the singing of “O Canada” at 11:55 a.m.
At 12 p.m., the Canada Day Parade begins. Presented and sponsored by Cogeco TV, the theme of this year’s parade is — of course — Canada’s 150th birthday. In honour of Canada’s 150th birthday, entry fees were waived for commercial floats so you can expect a bigger parade this year.
The parade will begin at Murray Street and proceed down George Street through downtown Peterborough to Morrow Park. (Parents of younger children who are riding their decorated bikes in the parade should accompany them on the parade route.)
And don’t forget: apart from the pre-parade events and the parade itself, there’s also the annual Multicultural Canada Day Festival taking place from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Del Crary Park.
The festival features food and craft vendors, family activities, and henna and face painting from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., sports demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., and a stage show from 12 to 2:30 p.m.
The Canada Day celebrations then continue in the evening with a free concert by Canadian music icon Kim Mitchell at Peterborough Musicfest at Del Crary Park. He will take the stage at 8 p.m. and rock the park until around 9:30 p.m.
To cap off Peterborough’s celebrations of Canada’s 150th birthday, the Peterborough Rotary Club (with support from the New Canadians Centre) will present a special Canada 150 fireworks display at Del Crary Park at around 9:45 p.m.
All the Canada 150 celebrations over four days in Peterborough are free. Some events are subject to last-minute changes, and other events are weather dependent. For more information and for last-minute updates on Peterborough’s Canada 150th celebration schedule, visit www.peterborough.ca/ptbo150, www.facebook.com/PTBO150, or @Ptbo150, and search for the hashtag #Ptbo150 on social media.
