Canada Day might be months away, but the City of Lethbridge has announced a partnership to expand the annual celebrations.
In years past, all activities on the country’s birthday were held at Henderson Lake Park. Starting this summer, some of those family-friendly treats will move to the Agri-Food Hub and Trade Centre thanks to a team-up with Lethbridge & District Exhibition.
Recreation manager for the City of Lethbridge, Travis Grindle, says they have noticed that the revelry at Henderson Lake Park keeps growing year-after-year, which inspired the idea to expand to the nearby Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre for July 1, 2025.
“Last year, we had over 12,000 patrons come down to Henderson Lake Park and while that’s awesome – it brings a lot of excitement, but it also brings some logistical challenges,” Grindle notes.
“This partnership will help manage the growing crowd by providing more space for more patrons. It’s going to allow us to enhance safety, improve our emergency preparedness and will help protect Henderson Lake Park grounds from general wear and tear, and overuse.”
Grindle adds the agreement will provide financial benefits as well, as it will “reduce some of the logistical operating costs that the City sees in presenting the event”.
He explains the main components of the day will stay the same, but some larger functions will move to the LDE grounds, including the food trucks and live entertainment on the Main Stage. The Kids and Family Fun Zones will continue to be available at Henderson Lake Park, with Grindle saying the City will also operate the fireworks display to cap off the day.
Paul Kingsmith, director of community engagement for LDE, says utilizing the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre will allow for an indoor space where attendees can take a break from the summer heat and use the facility’s indoor washrooms.
“We’re confident that the enhanced Canada Day celebrations will be a highlight for everyone for this year and for many years to come, and we are so excited to work with the City of Lethbridge and invite everybody out for Canada Day in 2025,” he remarks.
Kingsmith echoes Grindle’s thoughts on creating more room for attendees.
“Anybody who has attended at Henderson Lake Park knows that it can get tight in there and it can get bunched up, especially where you have lines for food trucks and the entertainment stage and that sort of thing,” he says.
“This will help to space out the crowds and I think create a more comfortable experience for everybody who is involved. It will allow us to keep some of those events in Henderson [Lake] Park – we know that’s a big feature and it’s what people like, but it will open up more space for families that want to have picnics and that sort of thing; more casual space in the park while allowing some of those high-traffic areas to move to a space like LDE, where it just fits better and makes more sense that way.”
Kingsmith says organizers are still mapping out activities for the day but notes accessibility will be top of mind when deciding where everything will be set up.
He adds they are “looking at ways that we can make sure that we’re maximizing the parking as best we can here in the area in both lots.”
The Canada Day team will also work alongside local organizations nearby like Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, the Lethbridge Bulls and Spitz Stadium, and the Henderson Outdoor Pool to coordinate any day-of programming.
Vendor applications are currently open in the following categories:
- Food vendors and food trucks
- Main Stage entertainers
- Kids and Family Fun Zone
- Youth Market
Applications are available at the City of Lethbridge website.
