Despite restrictions lifting, these summer festivals are still deploying COVID-19 safety measures
Two long-standing Edmonton festivals will go ahead this summer as restrictions in the province are set to lift on Canada Day.
Edmonton’s Heritage Festival will welcome back pavilions to Hawrelak Park. It will be a slightly modified event with half entry limitations, and two thirds of the normal pavilions allowed in the space.
Jim Gibbon, the executive director of the Edmonton Heritage Association, told CTV News Edmonton the festival will be much more spread out.
White circles will be painted onto the grass to ensure distance between cohorts. This will allow people to eat and drink safely in their own designated space.
Gibbon said being able to have the event come back this year provides a sense of normalcy.
“There was a lot of disbelief,” he noted.
“People were a little taken aback that we’re coming out of things.”
The Heritage Festival is a collection of Alberta-based cultural groups, that come together to share their history, song and dance, food, and so much more.
“To get a chance to get together, and share this beautiful message of multiculturalism, I think it’s incredibly important,” Gibbon added.
Entry is free, but people will need to get time-entry passes online as only a fixed number of people are allowed into the park per hour.
The festival will run July 31 to Aug. 2, and masks will be required.
TASTE OF EDMONTON
As for Taste of Edmonton, it’s also planning to make its return to an in-person event from July 22 to Aug. 1.
The festival will be returning to Sir Winston Churchill Square now that construction in the area is complete.
But, what’s top of mind for the organizers this year is ensuring health and safety for visitors.
“We’ve spread out our restaurant partners, usually they’re side by side. All the tents this year will have a six-foot gap,” Donovan Vienneau, the general manager of Taste of Edmonton, said.
Vienneau said in a normal year the event usually hosts 75 food and beverage partners, but this year it’s pared down to 53.
While there will be some new changes for the festival, Vienneau told CTV News Edmonton pricing will stay the same as it was in 2019.
“We’ve introduced a third menu item with a max two-ticket value,” he explained. “That way it’s going to give people coming to Taste of Edmonton more options.”
“We’re excited to showcase Edmonton restaurants that need the support.”
Tickets for the event can be purchased ahead of time online.
Both Heritage Festival and Taste of Edmonton will be using tap technology for purchases.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s David Ewasuk
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.