Spend Canada Day with the City of Spruce Grove

Fill your July 1st with Street Performers, Fabulous Free Concerts and More!

After kicking off on June 30th, Spruce Grove’s Canada Day and Street Performers Festival will shift into high gear on Tuesday, July 1st. Bright and early at 8 a.m. the Sea Cadets will start flipping flapjacks for hungry festival goers on the Composite High School’s Sports Field. Purchase a delicious pancake breakfast for just a toonie.

Children of all ages should plan to be on site between 10:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. to decorate themselves for the Canada Day Kids Parade. This year the city is replacing the bike parade with a walking parade. Participants will be encouraged to dress in this year’s theme, My Canada Today! and to decorate themselves with the help of our Summer in the City staff and volunteers. The parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. and wind itself around the festival site.

At noon a colour party and pipe band will escort our nation’s flag and Festival dignitaries to the mainstage where Spruce Grove Mayor, Stuart Houston, will lead an official Canada Day ceremony. Watch the raising of the flag while enjoying the sweet sounds of O Canada as performed by Samantha and Emily Schultz. Then, help yourself to a piece of birthday cake.

Street Performers from around the world will take over the festival field at 12:30 p.m. Be prepared to be amazed and astounded by the likes of Magic Brian, The English Gents, The Yo-Yo People, hip-hop dancers Freshly Squeezed, and ukulele rock-and-roll super-group The Be Arthurs. Rovers on site will include Edmonton’s Andrea House and Darrin Hagen and Calgary’s Green Fools. Also starting at 12:30, the REMAX KidZone will feature free play in the sandpit, performances, workshops, face painters, and crafts.

The Street Performers will wrap their shows up between 5 and 5:30 p.m. but don’t plan on heading home just yet. Food vendors will be on site serving hamburgers, hot dogs and other yummy treats to take care of your dinner needs while other vendors will offer beautiful clothing and other items for sale. Grown-ups can enjoy a cold beer in the Kinsmen Beverage tent after 5 p.m. and children will be able to enjoy the bouncy tents in the REMAX KidZone until 6 o’clock. Young Edmontonian Samantha Schultz will grace the Festival mainstage again at 6:30 p.m. for an hour-long concert, followed by the City’s annual Awards of Excellence presentation at 7:30 p.m.

Calgary-based bluegrass band Widow Maker will take to the stage at 8 p.m. Widow Maker’s potent music is rooted deep in old-school bluegrass, country, blues, rockabilly, and gospel of the '40s, '50s & '60s. Craig Korth, also of Jerusalem Ridge, will drive the band hard as they sing about lovin', leavin', cheatin', and hurtin'.

Then, dressed in their trademark tailored black suits and ties, Festival headliners, Paper Lions (formerly The Chucky Danger Band), will put on an energetic pop/rock show from 9:30 – 11 p.m. Often compared to The Beatles in their prime, these four young East Coast musicians fantastic tunes and loads of charisma have earned them both critical acclaim and numerous awards.

Ending July 1st with a bang will be the spectacular RONA fireworks at 11 o’clock.

Because parking will be very limited this year, a free ETS Park and Ride will bring festival patrons to and from the site between 9 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. Park and Ride stops will include Greystone Centennial Middle School and Living Waters Christian Academy and downtown Spruce Grove, across from Central Park. Although the City highly recommends biking to the Festival, bikes are not permitted on site for safety reasons. Bike racks will be provided for everyone who rides to the event. Pets are not permitted on site, so please leave your furry friends at home. But, bring yourself and all of your human pals to the Spruce Grove Canada Day and Street Performers Festival at Spruce Grove Composite High School on Tuesday, July 1st, we guarantee that you’ll have a great time!

Visit www.sprucegrove.org for more details on the entire Spruce Grove Canada Day and Street Performers Festival