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By Laurice Gomes

Canada Day

A day of celebration: Abbotsford Mayor thrilled with Canada Day festival

Jul 2, 2022 | 6:54 AM

ABBOTSFORD — It was a sea of red Friday afternoon at the Abbotsford Exhibition Park, with families celebrating Canada Day.

Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun said after two years of the festival’s absence, it was exciting to return to traditional celebrations.

“First of all, I want to wish everybody a happy Canada Day,” Mayor Braun said. “We haven’t been able to do this for a couple of years.” He added, “this Canada Day, Abbotsford is all about celebrating not only our country but our community as well.”

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The community celebration began with a two-hour parade, along the main street of Fraser Way. Prior to the event, Mayor Braun said he would be making an “exciting” appearance.

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“I’ll be driving an antique John Deere farm tractor, there will about seven or eight tractors that will be part of the parade,” he said, laughing. “It’s as old as I am I think, which is 72.”

He elucidated that Abbotsford is primarily a farming community, hence the entry.

“And I’m a farmer and rancher as well, so I’m happy to do that,” he said.

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The mayor estimated that in 2019, there were approximately 20,000 attendees for the Abbotsford Canada Day celebrations. Although no figures were available for Friday’s festivities, the crowds were expected to be larger.

“I’m guessing this year might be a little more because there’s a pent-up demand for people wanting to get out and do stuff,” he explained. “It is one of the biggest events we have for the public.”

The exhibition grounds hosted lots of family-friendly activities—from local police giving children a chance to sit in their vehicles to live entertainment.

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The live entertainment included performances by local musicians and dancers. In addition, residents had a chance to tantalize their tastebuds at a multi-cultural themed food truck festival.

The 2022 Order of Abbotsford recipient was Sharon Mitchell, who was acknowledged onstage for her commitment as a community builder and a volunteer.

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The mayor recognized the hard work of volunteers and first responders to pull the celebration together.

“We couldn’t do this without the many volunteers. And we have a great volunteer base of people who step up to make this all possible, including fire, police, and first responders,” he said. “Thank you to everybody, you know who you are, thank you for making it a very successful Canada Day parade.”

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