The City of Cranbrook would like to address the issue of restricted fireworks at the Canada 150 anniversary of confederation celebrations at Rotary Park on July 1.
The City’s goal for the Canada Day celebrations was to develop a festival that would be accessible for all, and provide food, activities and entertainment for every citizen throughout the day and evening at Rotary Park.
In seeking a main location for this celebration, the City learned through Forestry Canada’s Fire Weather System that, five out of six indices, indicated that the risk of fire was very high, and severe precautions should be taken during this time.
Due to this potential hazards presented in the surrounding area, a fireworks display at Moir was deemed not permittable by the Cranbrook Fire Department.
To overcome these natural constraints and in an effort to bring a unique experience to our citizens, the City explored an alternative option of laser light show in combination with limited fireworks. The scale of the fireworks display permitted at Western Financial Place was limited due to the sizeable fall out zones from the fireworks, and were only meant to be the finale of the laser light show and stage show, not intended to be a standalone production due to the costs and potential hazard it posed to Western Financial Place and the Cranbrook Curling Club’s roof structures, if the fireworks were prolonged.
For the same reason, the crowds were not asked to gather at the launch location for safety and security.
Many citizens stayed at home to watch the laser light show from their vantage points, but the lasers shot directly into the night sky were limited at the discretion of the Nu Salt Laser program designers who wanted to adhere to Canada Transport and Canadian Aviation/airspace regulations during their evening laser light program. The majority of the lasers were shot into the park and over the crowd during the performance, and we regret that many stay at home Canada Day celebrators were not able to enjoy the laser light show from afar. This decision to restrict the lasers to the park and general area was made on June 26 by Nu Salt and Transport Canada, and many of the press releases and marketing materials had already been published.
The City of Cranbrook, encouraged all citizens to come to the park and enjoy the production as well as other entertainment. With this amount of people and hazards associated with fireworks and laser productions, the City of Cranbrook Fire Dept., Leisure Service Department and Nu Salt Lasers placed safety as a priority during these Canada Day 150 events.
While respecting these safety concerns and overcoming potential limitations of the entertainment and performances, approximately 3,500 citizens participated in the festival at Rotary Park and celebrated the Canada’s 150th Anniversary of Confederation throughout the day and night.