WESTLOCK — Westlock’s Canada Day celebrations will include an array of free activities for kids during the afternoon, followed by a live performance involving country artist Travis Dolter and fireworks in the evening.
From 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., the field behind Westlock Elementary School will be the site of various attractions, including mini golf, bouncy castles and games, Henna tattoos, facing painting, airbrush body art and food trucks.
There will also be an axe-throwing event from 1 p.m to 5 p.m. and a free swim at the Westlock Aquatics Centre during the same hours..
Much of this will be familiar to those who have attended Canada Day events in the past, according to Fiona Campbell, a member of the Town of Westlock Community Events Committee, which is hosting the event.
“The only thing that’s really new this year that we’re doing is the airbrush body art. Everything else is pretty much what we’ve had before in the past,” she said, noting they brought in the airbrush body art because the face painting and Henna tattoos are always very busy.
One other small change from previous years is that, instead of serving cake, volunteers will be handing out 250 Canada Day cookies and small flags on a first-come first-served basis.
There will also be a market from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. featuring a variety of goods for sale. A few of these vendors will be adults, but the rest will be youth.
“I do like to try and gear this to more of a youth market than a regular market, just to give those children an opportunity to sell their stuff, because some of them have amazing products to sell," said Campbell.
Dynamo Dog Sports is also set to put on two shots at 4 and 6 p.m.
Musician Travis Dolter, who performed in Westlock in February as part of the Westlock Cultural Arts Theatre Society’s concert series, will then take the stage from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
While she was aware of Dolter’s last appearance in town, Campbell noted that she had booked the country singer at the beginning of the year, adding that she wanted to have just one band perform as opposed to an array of bands like last year.
The event ultimately wraps up with a Westlock Chamber of Commerce-sponsored fireworks display at 11 p.m.
Campbell noted that this year’s Canada Day celebrations will go ahead rain or shine, noting that they went ahead last year despite the weather not being the best.
“Obviously if it’s really bad, we’re going to have to cancel a few things,” she added.
Fawcett
Canada Day celebrations in the hamlet of Fawcett, which is about 35 minutes north of Westlock, will be spread throughout the weekend.
According to the Fawcett Agricultural Society’s Facebook page, a pancake breakfast will be held from 8-10 a.m. at the Fawcett Hall on Saturday, June 29. Admission is by donation.
A parade will then take place at 11 a.m., followed by a senior’s lunch from noon to 3 p.m. at the Senior’s Centre and pickleball, corn hole and disc golf at 1 p.m. at the hall.
There will also be a silent auction at the seniors’ centre and an adults-only cabaret on Saturday evening.
Arguably the main draw of the weekend, however, will be the slow-pitch tournament running from Saturday, June 29 to Monday, July 1.
This is the third year that Fawcett has hosted the slow-pitch tournament, though it was previously put on by Haley Chapotelle’s family before the COVID pandemic hit.
Chapotelle said nine teams have signed up for the tournament so far, though they would like to have one more just to make it a round number.
She noted this is just a fun tournament, with half of the proceeds going to the teams and the other half going towards maintenance (grass-cutting, etc.) of Fawcett’s ball diamonds.
"It’s not a fundraiser to go to anything, aside from bringing ball back to our small communities,” she said.
Besides the slow-pitch tournament, Chapotelle said they will host a flip cup tournament on Sunday evening, June 30, for both the slow-pitch teams and anyone else who wants to enter.
Flip cup is a team drinking game wherein participants compete to be the first to finish their beers and then flip their empty cups on a table.
Anyone interested in registering for the slow-pitch tournament or the flip cup event can call Chapotelle at (780) 307-7929 or Braden Conquergood at (780) 206-7060.
Pickardville
According to the Pickardville Community League’s Facebook page, the hamlet south of Westlock is also putting on a small Canada Day celebration on July 1, starting with a pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Pickardville Hall.
The breakfast will be followed by a parade at 10:30 a.m. and a horseshoe tournament at 11 a.m.
There will also be a concession and some kids’ activiities like temporary tattoos to follow the parade.
