The 2019 Steveston Salmon Festival is just over a month away, and this year, the city’s Canada Day festivities will also run under the Salmon Festival’s banner.
Now in its 74th year, the Salmon Festival will be back for its usual live entertainment, salmon barbecue, pancake breakfast and parade. This year, however, Canada Day celebrations will be run in collaboration with the city such as the evening fireworks.
“The Steveston Salmon Festival is a beloved Richmond tradition and a great way to celebrate Canada Day,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie in a press release.
“This year it will be bigger and better than ever as we fully integrate our other July 1 celebrations, including the popular evening fireworks over the Fraser River, under the festival’s banner.”
The reason for the change was primarily logistical, city spokesperson Ted Townsend told the Richmond News.
“For the last few years the city had complimentary Canada Day events throughout the rest of village, plus the evening fireworks, underneath the Richmond Canada Day in Steveston umbrella.
“While we worked closely with Salmon Festival and collaborated on many operational details, having two separately branded events was confusing to public and created some other challenges,” Townsend said.
“In addition to resolving some of the logistical issues, it also puts recognizes the Steveston Salmon Festival as our premier Canada Day event in Richmond, as it has been for the past 70-plus years.”
This year’s celebrations will include headliner 54-40 on the festival’s main stage. Throughout the rest of the day, there will be 50 other performances across nine stages.
Families with kids can check out the carnival activities at Sammy’s Fun Zone, and all around the festival, which stretches from Britannia Shipyards to the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, there will be vendors, trade shows and culinary delights.
