With Canada celebrating a monumental anniversary, the organizers of the annual Canada Day festival at Waterfront Park wanted to make sure they were doin’ it right this year.
For the past 29 years the Rotary Club of Lions Gate, with the support of the city and district, has hosted a day of fun every July 1 at Waterfront Park, but this year they’ve extended the party into nighttime to keep the party going with a free concert and beer garden running right until the pop of the first firework.
Headlining Canada Day night will be Tom Lavin and the Legendary Powder Blues, a Vancouver-based band that has gotten fans dancing for 39 years with a mix of swing, blues, jazz, rock ’n’ roll and R&B. The band’s bigtime hits include “What Have I Been Drinkin,’” “Boppin With the Blues,” and the irresistible “Doin’ It Right (On the Wrong Side of Town).”
The band is a perfect fit for the time and place, says Rotarian and event organizer Stan van Woerkens.
“This type of band, they fit any demographic,” he says. “Even my daughter, I told her about the band and she said, ‘Oh yeah, I like those songs!’ It brings a little bit of a nostalgic feeling, which is where we should be. Because hey, we’re celebrating 150 years in Canada.”
The decision to keep the party jumping until the sun goes down was made specifically with Canada’s sesquicentennial in mind.
“We felt the need to do something different,” says van Woerkens. “We would be falling short in the North Shore community not to recognize this special 150 years.”
Daylight festivities will proceed as usual at Waterfront Park with a costume change in the late afternoon to set the stage for the beer garden and concert. Red Truck Beer Company will be on the scene to supply libations along with wine suppliers and food trucks. The show will open with crowd-pleasing tunes from tribute bands for ABBA and Fleetwood Mac and finish with the Powder Blues blasting out their final notes just as the fireworks start flying.
“They’ll wrap up and everybody can just watch the fireworks go off in the background. And hopefully they’ll stick around to help us clean,” van Woerkens says with a laugh. “Just kidding – we’ll do that after.”
The evening of entertainment is a natural extension of the annual Canada Day celebrations as well as the popular Shipyards Night Market that heats up every summer Friday night on the North Vancouver waterfront.
“It’s a night out. That doesn’t happen in North Van all that often,” says van Woerkens, laughing again. “I think this will be a welcome addition because we have never been able to have a free concert in the park. We always have to go to either West Van or Stanley Park. Now we are doin’ it right, at home.”
For more information visit northvancanadaday.com.
