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Black Diamond's reverse parade salvaged from postponed events

A walk around Black Diamond will be a lot more interesting this Saturday, as people are being encouraged to decorate their home and yards and play music in what is being called a reverse parade.
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Black Diamond is hosting a reverse parade Sept. 25.. (BRENT CALVER/Western Wheel)

Residents can parade up and down the streets of Black Diamond to check out their friends and neighbours decorating skills.

A reverse parade will be held Sept. 25, where residents will decorate the outside of their homes and people can parade around checking out what they have come up with.

“Homeowners, residents, businesses, they are going to have the opportunity to decorate the outside of their homes with whatever their imagination comes up with,” said Shelley Broadley, Black Diamond’s planning and economic development assistant. “They can make things. They can take seasonal decorations and put them out. They can play music in their yard. It’s going to look way different from house to house.”

People will need to stick to their household groups if they are in their yard, she said, and maintain six feet of distance between themselves and people not from their household.

People who plan on decorating the outside of their homes and yards for the reverse parade can register by clicking on the events link on the Town’s website.

A map of homes that have registered for the event will be posted on the Town’s website. A prize will be given out for the best-decorated home. Broadley said they may choose a judge or have a public vote for a prize pack.

“We’ll be driving around and taking photos of everybody’s hard work too, so anybody who doesn’t get the chance to get out to see them will get the chance to see the displays,” she said.

Black Diamond is pressing forward with the reverse parade plan after many events had to be cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

“Because of COVID we have not had the time ahead to plan out things we have done in the past,” Broadley said.

An outdoor movie, market and Indigenous drummers and dancers planned by the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Foothills, also scheduled for Saturday night, have been postponed while organizers consider how to hold the event within the new Provincial COVID restrictions.

“We are going to take direction from the Province and see where restrictions head to,” she said. “Either the movie event can be moved indoors or it can be moved as a drive-in. It’s one of the things where we are going to weigh out the options there and also with the weather.”

Broadley said the annual beer festival and other fall events have not gone ahead so the Town has been looking for safe events to replace them.

“We want to try and do something so everybody has something to look forward to,” she said.

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