Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Canada Day ~ 2019 ~ Kamloops, BC


Canada Day is always a special day for us Canadians and has become a bigger celebration in Kamloops at Riverside Park over the years.  It attracts thousands of us that come to see the artists of the area and the food vendors as well as plenty of entertainment.

Group Drum Roll
We arrived just as the drumming began.  It was a Guinness World Record attempt with multicultural drummers performing.  They attempted at “Most Nationalities in a Simultaneous Drum Circle” last year but didn’t make it so the hope was to be successful to break the record for “Largest Group Drum Roll” this year.  I’ve heard no news on that yet.  They passed out small drums for the spectators to join in, grandson using one in corner of photo. 

Crowds and more crowds
This well shaded park was packed with vendors and those who came to enjoy the day.  Riverside Park has been the centre of summer activities for so many years but not many the size of this one.  It does lead to parking difficulties but if one is willing to walk, spots can be found.  The City of Kamloops offers free bus service for the day so that sure simplifies things for those who wish to use them.  

Kids bouncy castle fun

There is a nice playground for the youngsters in the park but for this special day, they offer plenty of extras like this bouncy castle shown here.  No shortage of lineups of kids waiting to get into it and have their turn at fun.  Patience applies in several areas of the Park today, lineups are long. 

Kamloops Lawn Bowling
Lawn bowling has had this area in Riverside here for many years.  As a matter of fact, these greens were ready for play in 1923!  The Kamloops Lawn Bowling Club was formed the year before and has been active ever since, but with some changes in rules, as women were only allowed to use the green when men were not back then.  There are tournaments for those who enjoy the competition of lawn bowling but social bowling is happening with no set teams, just to have fun with those who show up on any day. 

A Special Gift
There were dozens of very talented artists with booths displaying their talents in the Park.  They sell their jewelry, knitted goods, pottery, paintings, woodworks, face painting….. the list could go on.  There was one booth that especially caught my attention and that was “A Special Gift”.  These ladies plus one other work all year round producing these amazing quilts and a never ending list of other items.  

Dressed for the occasion
So many visitors wore red clothes of some sort and accessories of red, whether flags or other things, but these ones definitely caught my attention.

Thompson River beach at Riverside Park
Riverside Park is right on the Thompson River and has always been a popular swimming area, too.  The day was still early but with the forecast to reach 30c (86f), the beach would soon be full of more swimmers, to be sure.  Then they can move onto the food vendors, which offers Multicultural Society foods from many different cultural groups that represent Kamloops residents, as well. 

Kamloops Mounted Patrol
Rick Wanless (c) has been attending these events and so many others with his horses and team mates since 1992 as the Kamloops Mounted Patrol and they still draw plenty of attention wherever they go.  Great to see Mr. Wanless still a part of this great Patrol team.  To learn more of the Patrol, click here.

Riverside Park on Canada Day
FolkFest lineups of local and regional cultural performers promotes diversity in dance, music, style and language on the stage of the Rotary Bandshell and were being enjoyed by this large audience.  Sights of food vendors, all vendors and more around Riverside Park.  Music in the Park kicked off July 1 evening with classic rock band Shattered Blue and wow, were they good!  Lead singer had an AMAZING voice, scheduled to play again July 19th.  One of the best free concerts you may see but the whole lineup looks great. 

View from the top of overpass walk

The cap off for the whole evening was the fantastic fireworks, but no photos for it, never been good at night shots, lol.  We’d been down to the festivities twice and just weren’t going for a third visit, too late for us old folks.  Sorry we missed it but we heard from several that it was incredible.
 
There are more photos of Riverside Park on my blog showing quieter times.  Click here to see that.

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