July 1, 2017 marks Canada’s 150th birthday and organizers of the Mission Canada Day celebration are busy with the finishing touches of what is expected to be a great family-friendly party.
This is the second Canada Day celebration organized by Joanna McBride – the special event coordinator at Fraser River Heritage Park – and she expects a big crowd to turn up.
With that in mind, there are more activities this year than in past celebrations.
“We have more face painters, more clowns, more bouncy castles,” said McBride, adding there is also a Wipe Out course and the Crazee Ball area where people wear giant ball costumes and then bang into each other.
As well as celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday, it is also Mission’s 125th birthday and this year’s celebration has a definite local flair.
“All of our entertainment, all of our talent is local Mission groups.”
Along with the fun and games, dignitaries from Oyama – Mission’s sister city in Japan – will be at the celebration. The group is setting up a friendship booth at the park. Later in the day, the mayors of Mission and Oyama will place a lock on the lock structure at the park to signify the friendship between the two cities.
While there is more hype and excitement about this year’s event, McBride says she is calmer this year than last.
“I’m a little more relaxed because I already have one under my belt. We are good to go, everything is going to work out,” she said.
She encourages everyone to come out and enjoy the day.
“It’s fun, free, family-oriented and it’s going to be a beautiful day at the park. And there’s no better place to be on Canada Day.”
The park celebration starts with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m., but the day isn’t over. Later that night, the fireworks showcase has been moved to Mission Raceway Park.
McBride said the district decided to put its money towards the fireworks showcase at the raceway this year. It will give the community a bigger, better show for the 150th birthday bash.
Entrance to the raceway will be free after 8 p.m. Visit mission.ca for the full schedule of events.