With most COVID-related restrictions relaxed across the province, the Town of Turner Valley is throwing a party.
The Town is hosting a Back Together Summer Celebration with free family-friendly activities including a barbecue, petting zoo, bounce houses, face painting, entertainment and dance party in Millennium Park Aug. 14 from noon to 4 p.m.
The celebration will end with fireworks, conditions permitting.
“The purpose of this is, primarily, to honour the remarkable efforts made by our communities in helping each other out through the challenges of the pandemic,” said Monique LeBlanc, community services manager and the event’s lead organizer. “The elements are similar to Discovery Day which had to be cancelled in 2020 and this year.”
Discovery Day is an annual event held in June that follows on the heels of the Black Diamond Parade, offering similar activities to the Back Together Summer Celebration. LeBlanc said the event was cancelled in both communities this year and last due to restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We thought we would do just a stand-alone event recognizing that people would still like to gather and celebrate the summer and reconnect with one another,” she said.
The Town is putting a call out to businesses, service clubs, community groups and non-profit organizations to either plan corresponding events or to participate in the community market.
LeBlanc said the market provides a venue for non-profit organizations to share information about their programs and collect donations after fundraising efforts were significantly hampered during the COVID-related restrictions.
“They supported the communities to the best of their ability throughout the pandemic and they didn’t have an opportunity to fundraise like they normally would during that time,” she said. “The market will have service clubs providing information, recruiting volunteers and new members, and, if they wish, fundraising.”
Businesses can also participate in the market and non-musical buskers are invited to perform, she said.
The Town is also putting a call out to Black Diamond and Turner Valley businesses and organizations wishing to participate with their own activities at Millennium Park, or at their own locations with activities such as beer gardens, car shows and sidewalk sales.
LeBlanc said she’s open to hearing new ideas and suggestions regarding activities and partnerships for the Back Together Summer Celebration.
Anyone interested in participating, volunteering or sponsoring a portion of the event must contact LeBlanc at 403-933-6206 or [email protected] before Aug. 9.
Details about the event will be posted at turnervalley.ca as more information becomes available.
