The 50th anniversary Sea Cavalcade, which took over Gibsons from July 27 to 29, was a historic bonanza of processions on air, land and water.
“In all the years that I have been coordinating and helping, this year I have seen more people than I have seen before,” said long-time festival committee chair Conchita Harding.
With dozens of activities taking place over the three-day festival, Harding said it’s difficult to estimate how many people attended the Sea Cavalcade, but that a few thousand people watched the fireworks on Saturday alone – so many that it caused a delay in reopening Gower Point Road. Rather than opening at 9 p.m., the road stayed closed until 11:20 p.m. for safety reasons.
“It was shoulder to shoulder,” Harding said.
Gibsons Landing, including the areas around the Government Wharf, the seawall and Winegarden Waterfront Park, were packed with revellers cheering on the fireworks, which were shot from a barge in Gibsons Harbour. A special inclusion this year by Gary Mill and his crew of volunteers was nautical fireworks, which lit up the surrounding waters in blue.
While it may have taken two extra hours for the roads to reopen Saturday night, Harding said her team was able to reopen Gibsons Way following the morning’s annual parade and race 45 minutes before the scheduled 1:30 p.m. time.
The parade of about 30 floats began on Park Road before heading down Gibsons Way and Gower Point Road. “It’s always hectic, it’s very busy,” said parade coordinator Greg Carter of the experience. He said the number of floats was comparable to previous years, even though two had to cancel. The first place commercial float went to the Sunshine Coast Credit Union and the Town of Gibsons won first place in the non-profit category.
To kick off the parade, four vintage 1940 L-17 Navion aircraft streaked overhead trailed by flumes of blue exhaust. It was the first time in about five years that the Fraser Blues pilots took to the sky at the Cavalcade. Harding said the committee fundraised to bring them back to honour long-time Cavalcade organizer and mentor Barry Constance. “They were so happy we brought them back. It’s so hard to fundraise, but we said let’s do it for the 50th,” Harding said. Another Fraser Blues air show took place on Sunday.
Other festivities included the annual Keats to Armours Mile Swim, which drew 39 participants. Sarah Crawford came first overall with a time of 26:27 and Darren Molder was the first male winner with a time of 28:12. Saturday’s Cavalcade Mile run, which opens the parade, was the second largest race in 50 years, with 144 competitors. Matthew Winkler took top spot with a time of 4:19, and Alycia Butterworth was the fastest female with a time of 4:48.
At the opening ceremony, the Sea Cavalcade royal family received a few new additions – two princes, Alan Bloemhard and Lochlan Reed, were crowned for the first time in Cavalcade history, while Golden Girls from past Cavalcades flanked the presentation stage. This year’s Golden Girl was Mary Bittroff, retired school teacher and School District No. 46 trustee, who has served on several committees and who also runs a hot dog stand at Davis Bay. “She is an excellent volunteer. She is still doing so much,” Harding said.
As for long-time lead organizer Harding, she will be taking next year off to focus on family, but says the committee is grooming a couple of volunteers to take over next year. As for next year’s theme – that will be decided in October. “We have 50 years of history and now we have to get this festival to the next 50 years,” Harding said. “But everything needs a change, every year we change things, so it will continue.”
See more photos from the weekend events in our online galleries.
