The City of Prince George is hosting Canada Day at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park Monday, July 1 and everyone is invited to join in the celebration.
With 17 multicultural food vendors on site and about 15 entertainment groups on the bandshell stage, along with bouncy castles and bigger-than-life games for the kids to play and a marketplace filled with local artisans’ wares on display, it’s shaping up to be better than ever.
Historically the Multicultural Heritage Society took on the challenge of presenting the event to the Prince George community and for the last two years the City took over its planning.
“The Multicultural Heritage Society came to us to ask if we could assist and we said absolutely,” Doug Hofstede, City of Prince George community coordinator, said.
“This is an important event for our community. Props go to the Multicultural Heritage Society for creating this event for the last 50 years, I think it is. They’ve made it into a unique event and because it’s so multicultural and not so much Canadiana, we’ve tried to keep the spirit of what they were trying to achieve.”
To that end there will be several familiar multicultural food vendors on site, along with some food trucks offering interesting food with modern twists.
There will be a mix of multicultural entertainment as well as some community groups who will entertain audiences at the bandshell.
Hofstede said his family has a tasting-menu plan when they go to the park to celebrate Canada Day.
“I know for our family it’s kind of a tradition to grab a plate from one place and we share it and then we go to the next one and we share it and that way we get to take a walk around the world, to taste different food from around the world,” Hofstede explained.
The celebration usually sees between 15,000 and 20,000 people attend and this year will be no different.
“We would like to thank the people who support this, including Canadian Tire, which is presenting the whole event and Canfor, which is sponsoring the entertainment, while Aaron Switzer Realty is sponsoring the Kids’ Zone, which will be a ton of fun for kids. We have more bouncy houses than we had last year and Engage Sport North and the Y will be playing big games with the kids with parachutes and balls and things like that to keep them quite active and we have Mandy the face painter, who always has a line up because she’s just so good at it. New this year we have the Prince George chess club.”
People can play a game, learn to play, or compete in the tournament.
“And there’s even an opportunity to challenge a champion - we have a person there that’s really good a chess and you can see how long you last,” Hofstede laughed.
People coming to the park on Canada Day can expect the same robust event as it was in its heyday, he added.
“People love what it is so we’ve tried to enhance it a little bit each year and use the Multicultural Heritage Society template for the event because they always did such a great job,” Hofstede said.
Canada Day at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park goes from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, July 1.
Here is the schedule of events for the day:
Canfor stage schedule
- 11 a.m. Welcome
- 11:05 a.m. Prince George Community Band
- Noon: Opening ceremonies
- Greetings from Lheidli T'enneh Elder Edith Frederick, Chief Dolleen Logan, MP Todd Doherty, MP Bob Zimmer, and Mayor Simon Yu
- 12:30 p.m. CBA lion dancers and singers
- Cake cutting sponsored by Save on Foods
- 12:50 p.m. Zahirah Dance Studio - Troupe Zahira
- 1:15 p.m. Ivan Paquette
- 1:40 p.m. Khast'an Drummers
- 2:05 p.m. Excalibur Theatre Arts
- 2:30 p.m. Rogers & Sargent
- 2:55 p.m. Bollywood Dream Dancers
- 3:15 p.m. UHNBC Drum Group
- 3:40 p.m. Twasome Highland Troupe & Lorna Carbutt School of Dance
- 4:05 p.m. Fraser Lyric Opera
- 4:25 p.m. Mariaelena Delgado
- 4:45 p.m. Sandi Araquil & Jezer Narcisco
- 5:10 p.m. Judy Russell's Enchainement Dance Centre
- 5:40 p.m. Thaìs & Beni
- 6 p.m. Closing
Food pavilion vendors include:
- Booster Juice
- Chaá Tayo Bubble Tea & Wings
- Chee Kong Society
- Chinese Benevolent Society
- The Cook Shack
- Dana Mandi
- Franco's Italian Concession
- Island Flava
- Japanese Students Association
- Kali Mandir - Indian Food
- Mapal Ice Cream
- Mini Donuts
- Mountain Air Kettle Corn
- Northern Hindu Society
- Rocky Mountain Chocolate
- White Goose Bistro
- White Goose Desserts
