The town was abuzz with thousands of people donning red and white for Jasper鈥檚 Canada Day celebrations, July 1.
鈥淲e gave up counting around the 4,000 mark. We think we had about 5,000 people that attended our events,鈥� said Pattie Pavlov, general manager for the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had nothing but positive feedback. It was a huge hit.鈥�
The day kicked off at Centennial Park as hundreds of people lined up along the street for the town鈥檚 annual pancake breakfast. After indulging in mounds of syrup and fluffy goodness, many people migrated to the Info Centre鈥檚 lawn for a traditional flag raising ceremony, in which JNP superintendent Alan Fehr and Mayor Richard Ireland took turns addressing the crowd.
鈥淎s much as today is a day for a community celebration of national pride, it is equally a day to share an authentic Canadian experience with our visitors from around the world,鈥� Ireland said. 鈥淥ur theme this Canada Day is to celebrate diversity ... As Canadians we recognize nationally that diversity not only contributes to, but is perhaps the foundation of our strength.
鈥淛asper is a remarkable reflection of that national commitment to diverse and inclusive communities.鈥�
After the celebratory speeches, a thunderous roar silenced the crowd as a CF-18 Hornet soared a couple of hundred feet above the flag.
Keeping with this year鈥檚 theme of celebrating diversity, the ceremony also included several flag bearers, each holding a flag from a different culture.
鈥淭here was a lot of work and time put into the celebrating diversity theme so we鈥檙e very proud of that,鈥� Pavlov said, adding she estimates that about 70 per cent of the events鈥� attendees were people from out of town. 鈥淪o we couldn鈥檛 have come up with a better theme.鈥�
Following the flag raising ceremony thousands of people lined the streets to watch the annual parade make its way through town, which included dozens of floats and a marching band.
The festivities continued in Centennial Park throughout the afternoon with live music, a barbecue, a beer garden and an impressive display of fireworks, which capped off the evening.
While next Canada Day seems like a lifetime away, the Chamber of Commerce is already working on next year鈥檚 plans. 聽
鈥淲e are very conscious that Canada鈥檚 150th birthday is coming up so we鈥檙e well into debriefing on how to create a bigger and better event,鈥� Pavlov said. 鈥淲e want to make sure everything operates smoothly.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 just a cute little event for Jasper anymore鈥攊t鈥檚 grown into a huge thing.鈥�
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
