Two years have passed without a FunFest, and now that health restrictions are easing, Callander is beginning to plan to bring it back for 2022. If all goes well on the Covid-19 front, FunFest will have a triumphant return this Canada Day weekend.
The event is one of Callander’s marquee events and is always a strong draw for residents and visitors. The event is up there with Sirens in the Park and the Cranberry Festival, and organizers are working to ensure that the 2022 event lives up to expectations.
There is a bit of a rub, as the municipality is down a key position in the planning group. Recently, the chair of the sports, recreation, and events community group (Recreation Group) resigned, and no members were willing to take over that role.
Municipal staff have met with some of the previous FunFest organizers, and many are willing to help the municipality with planning this year’s event. “Staff intend to meet with the Recreation Group to discuss the assignment of roles and responsibilities for this year’s FunFest,” explained Callander’s senior municipal director, Ashley Bilodeau, in a report to council.
For the uninitiated, one of the highlights of FunFest is the firework display, “which everyone looks forward to,” Noon said, and that event “will be a great opportunity to get the community back together.”
But a firework show alone does not a FunFest make, and the Recreation Group will ensure many activities and events for all ages. Mayor Noon mentioned there will be some vendor tables set up at Centennial Park, including food vendors, and a bounce castle will most likely be on hand as well.
A pancake breakfast is usually hosted by the Fire Department, and Mayor Noon sees no reason that tradition will change. The money raised from selling the hotcakes is put into the firework fund.
“The whole council is excited to have it back,” Mayor Robb Noon said. “I think the community is looking forward to it after two years of not having it.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
