WESTLOCK – The annual Westlock Light Up Parade will look the same as last year with a stationary parade in order to comply with COVID-19 restrictions, however next year things may look a bit different.
While the town is handling the parade this year, that responsibility will soon be placed on the shoulders of the newly created community events committee.
Town CAO Simone Wiley says that a committee led by community members will hopefully help promote community participation and the organization of new events.
Seven diverse members will be on the team, including one from FCSS, one from the Westlock and District Chamber of Commerce, four community members and one member of town council.
The committee will oversee the planning while subcommittees will take care of the finer details, according to Wiley. For example, the events committee will plan next year’s parade and how it will look depending on COVID-19 restrictions and other factors. Once an idea has been settled on, a subcommittee will plan the route, theme and other smaller details.
“It will be nice to have representation from the community when it comes to planning community events,” said Wiley. “When you’re planning an event, you don’t always know if everybody has agreed with it. This way we can help fix that.”
Parade to follow last year’s formula
Following last year’s successful formula, the parade will once again be held as a ‘reverse parade’ along 100th Avenue Nov. 19. Families will be able to drive past in their vehicles to maintain social distance while enjoying the sights and sounds of holiday festivities.
“Because of COVID-19 restrictions, we do have to play within public health guidelines,” said Town of Westlock development services director Krystle Fedoretz. “This allows people to remain with their family units in the vehicle but also get to partake in the parade.”
While last year’s parade didn’t have the usual festivities of family dances and kids sitting on Santa’s lap, Fedoretz says it was still “hugely successful” and welcomed by the community.
Space is still available for floats and registration will remain open until Nov. 16, registration can be found on www.westlock.ca.
