Vernon Winter Carnival parade cancelled

The Vernon Winter Carnival has cancelled its parade.

In a media release, Jan. 15, Vernon Winter Carnival organizers say that while it was hoped the parade would still take place, having made many adjustments to keep it safe, Interior Health has made the order to cancel the event.

"We are so thankful for the guidance from Interior Health, we were only going forward with the parade if we could do it safely and if Interior Health feels we can’t, we understand their reasoning and their decision," Vernon Winter Carnival executive director Vicki Proulx said in the release.

The parade had been scheduled to take place in February using a different format than previously done. To ensure physical distancing measures, the parade was going to work in reverse, meaning the parade entrants would be stationary and spectators would drive by.

The Vernon Winter Carnival 2021, with a Wild West theme, will still be going ahead with many events taking place virtually.

And festival organizers are confident the parade will happen sometime in the future.

"We will reschedule the parade when it’s possible to do so. Doesn’t matter the season, we’ll bring the Winter Carnival parade to the community as soon as we can," Proulx said.

For more information about other Winter Carnival events go here.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.