The Town of Collingwood is pressing pause on town-run Canada Day fireworks in 2023 due to a lack of bidders, but the town has other plans on deck to celebrate this year.
During the May 15 committee of the whole meeting, the town’s manager of culture and events, Karen Cubitt, provided an update to councillors on the status of a request-for-proposals process for Canada Day fireworks this year. She said a request for proposals for 2023 Canada Day fireworks went to market at the end of March.
“There were two bid takers, but ultimately no bids were received. Therefore, there will be no Canada Day fireworks,” Cubitt told councillors.
“Staff will be redirecting the fireworks funds toward alternative Canada Day activities,” she said.
Back in February, councillors received the results of a public survey that showed Collingwood residents overwhelmingly wanted to see fireworks in 2023.
More than 1,000 residents sent in responses to the public fireworks survey, which ran from Nov. 9 to Dec. 9, 2022, with 753 (or 68.8%) of respondents saying they felt it was important the municipality had some sort of aerial light display on Canada Day. Of those, 77.6 per cent of respondents said the display should be fireworks.
When asked what alternatives to fireworks respondents would prefer, 303 responses were received. The most frequent response was concerts, while carnivals, parades, art shows and craft markets were also suggested.
None of the recommendations out of the report impact the current backyard fireworks bylaw in Collingwood, which was most recently amended in 2020 to limit the number of days they can be set off annually. Currently, fireworks can only be displayed on Victoria Day and Canada Day.
As it stands, the town’s total Canada Day budget for 2023 is $44,750. Within this, $15,000 was earmarked for fireworks.
On Monday night, Cubitt told councillors that as the survey indicated, live music was another popular request of residents. As a result, town staff would be turning their attention to granting that request for this year’s festivities.
“We’re working on a mini music crawl of sorts with multiple regional artists performing out of multiple outdoor locations,” Cubitt said. “We will also be hosting an evening concert at the Shipyards Amphitheatre on July 1.”
Cubitt said plans for Canada Day 2024 will be addressed through the 2024 budget.
