It may not be the spectacle that organizers hoped for, but for this year’s Flin Flon Trout Festival, the show will go on.
An abbreviated, altered slate of events will make up this year’s Trout Festival, with most of the typical events - the annual Fish Fry, Main Street Days, family dance, Canada Day fireworks and others - either made impossible or cancelled outright by COVID-19.
What the disease didn’t take away is the Canada Day parade. The parade will be held July 1 with little difference from normal, except for social distancing rules and health orders.
A new announcement is the Trout Festival Music Series, a night of concerts at the Blueberry Jam main stage area including two separate shows for a limited number of people. The Usual Suspects will play two sets for a group of people no larger than 90, with attendees socially distanced on the grass at the festival stage site and the dance floor. The dance floor will include stickers to make sure revellers don’t get too close.
“They’re doing a one hour show then a break and another one hour show,” said Sheena Reed, vice-president of the Trout Festival committee.
“We’ve marked X’s on the dance floor to make sure people are staying apart, not supposed to escape your bubble.”
Attendees will need to report to the Rotary Wheel entrance to the park near Dadson Row before each show. People will be guided to the site by volunteers in small groups to avoid interfering with distance protocols.
For the Canada Day parade, Reed said the number of entries involved is similar to parades in past years.
“We’ve got quite a few entries already. I think it's going to be much the same as previous years. I'm hoping people will get creative in their designs,” Reed said.
The parade will take on the same route as normal, starting at Green Street before winding down Highway 10A and Third Avenue, then reaching Main Street.
When asked, Reed said she thinks this year’s parade could be a special one - a first public event for people stuck in limited spaces for months while COVID-19 dies out.
“I think it's going to be enjoyed more this year, just because it's going to be our first event of the summer - like our first back to normal type situation, which is not quite normal yet but getting there,” she said.
While the first week of the derby was plagued by cold, wet weather, the forecast is perking up - highs in the 20s are expected for the next week, including several days of expected sunlight.
“I think with the weather turning nice, we’ll get more people out fishing for money,” said Reed.
“Nobody was thinking about fishing - now, they will be.”
Prize donations have also come in from local businesses, Reed said.
“It’s good that people are backing it,” she added.
While having some events is better than none at all, Reed said there was some melancholy over the Trout Festival that could have been. This year’s event is the 70th anniversary of the festival and plans have been underway for years to provide special new events for this year. Almost all of those ideas have been shelved.
“It’s kind of sad though, looking through the website and it’s got all the events, but then there’s no Main Street Days, no classic car show, no fish fry, no Fish Fry, no opening barbecue, no family dance,” Reed said.
“A lot of things were cancelled. It takes time to organize events. It’s hard to do that, especially at events where we couldn’t have any crowd control whatsoever.”
The Trout Festival Music Series will take place June 27 with shows at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The Trout Festival Fishing Derby continues until June 28.
The Canada Day Parade begins at 11 a.m. July 1 at Centennial Crescent and Green Street.
