Get ready, Bancroft, for a big Canada Day bash.
Activities are taking place at Riverside Park from 12 noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 1 when our country celebrates its 156th birthday.
The event will feature several community group booths, draw prizes and kid’s activities, including a colouring contest.
Tourism Coordinator Fay Williams says the event will show off lots of things that make Bancroft a great place.
“The main idea of the event is, ‘get to know your community’ she says. “We have a myriad of different organizations from the community coming out and having booths.
For example, the Art Gallery of Bancroft is going to be there. The Bancroft Cruisers are going to bring their vehicles. And we’ll have live music, throughout the event as well.”
Williams says the event is like a “blueprint” for future celebrations. She hopes the event will pick up on the momentum from last year, when the Town resumed hosting a Canada Day party, after pausing them during the first two pandemic years.
The party will start with an opening ceremony at 12 noon.
Fire ban means fireworks banned through Canada Day
But, don’t expect a fireworks show this Canada Day and do not set off any of your own.
That from Bancroft Deputy Fire Chief Matt Musclow, as the region remains in a Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Restricted Fire Zone.
Musclow says the total fire ban is not expected to lift ahead of Canada Day festivities on Saturday.
In Bancroft that means, no-open air burning including campfires, burn barrels, wood or charcoal burning barbecues and outdoor stoves.
It also means people are asked to not partake in some Canada Day night rituals, such as using fireworks, flying lanterns and sparklers.
“What the Ministry wants people to understand is that if someone chooses to use fireworks and they are the reason for a forest fire, they can be found liable for any fees incurred while fighting that fire,” he says. “That is a very big fine.”
Musclow says, for the most part, residents have been co-operative with the total fire ban that’s been in place since early June. But the department has responded to a few fires, which have resulted in MNRF issuing charges.