Cold Lake Canada Day celebrations, Full Throttle Festival, Aqua Days cancelled

Kinosoo Beach in Cold Lake last summer. Image credit: City of Cold Lake.

In keeping with the Government of Alberta’s direction surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Cold Lake is taking steps for the orderly cancellation of summer events likely to be affected by the pandemic.

In response to the cancellation of the 2020 Cold Lake Air Show on Monday morning, the City of Cold Lake is taking steps for the orderly cancellation of the associated Full Throttle Festival, as well as other events such as Canada Day and Aqua Days.

“Of course we all want life to get back to normal, but with the government signaling a lengthy course of physical distancing and limitations on gatherings, we are taking action to ensure that summer events are cancelled,” Mayor Craig Copeland said in a press release.

“The cancellation of summer events across the province will, of course, be devastating for the economy but to continue to plan for these events when their continuation is unlikely would only serve to put public dollars at risk.”

Further to the summer events, the City will be not be accepting any bookings for sports fields throughout the community, including the soccer/rugby pitches and baseball/softball fields.

The soccer and rugby pitches are considered open spaces for the public to use with proper social distancing measures in accordance to public health rules, but the City will not be booking them for any events, games, or leagues.

Other spaces have been closed to the public, such as the Thomas Varughese Artificial Turf Field, ball diamonds, playgrounds structures, outdoor courts, outdoor rinks, skatepark, and splash park.

The City of Cold Lake continues to follow the direction set by the Government of Alberta, with Alberta Health Service (AHS) as the lead agency during the public health emergency spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We continue to carefully follow the leadership provided by the Government of Alberta through AHS, and to support them in every way possible,” Copeland said.

“We will balance a state of preparedness to safely reopen while taking all steps necessary to implement the health and safety precautions the province puts into place.