Labour Day activities in and round Calgary
Posted Sep 2, 2013 8:02 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Labour Day in Canada may have started out as a day to fight for workers’ rights but it has evolved into what many see as a last hurrah before its back to grind, be it at school or at work.
With plenty of sunshine and hot temperatures in the forecast and quite an array of event’s going on in and around Calgary, residents have plenty of opportunity to make the best of the last day of the holiday weekend.
Starting out at 9 a.m., the Calgary JCC Ride for Relief with Tyler Hamilton takes a 55km stretch from Red Deer Lake School to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park and back. Profits will go to KidSport Calgary to help families affected by the June flood disaster.
Northeast of the city, the Cochrane Labour Day Parade is expected to bring out about 12,000 people out. That starts at 10:30 a.m..
For a family friendly event downtown, the Calgary’s District Labour Council is holding a BBQ with activates at Olympic Plaza from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
On one of the day’s big events include the Labour Day Classic at McMahon stadium which goes just after 3 p.m. Labour day games are also known for their Tailgate parties which are sure to add to the celebration at the stadium.
There’s a special Labour Day visitor in Calgary.
Heritage Park welcomes the Strathcona Mounted Troop who will perform its musical ride.
The 20-horse, 25-member troop was formed in 1977 and Heritage Park spokesperson Jeff Hodgson said the ride is drawn from the regiment’s traditions of the 1920’s and 30’s.
“These are actually serving military personnel who have learned a series of traditional movements with their horses that’s all set to music,” said Hodgson.
The performance starts at 2 p.m. in the park’s main field adjacent to the festival tents.
The Calgary Zoo may still be recovering from the flood but that’s not stopping the zoo from offering a special $10 admission fee today.
Today also features some wildlife in its natural habitat with Friends of Fish Creek starting their Autumn Birding Course.
Calgary’s outdoor pools are also open for their last day today including most of the city’s spray parks.
In the southeast, Sikome Beach will remain open until later this week.
For some non-traditional Labour Day activities, some of the world’s fastest longboarders are at Canada Olympic Park for the start of the World Cup of Longboarding and Street Luge.
