Kamloops council agrees to go back to traditional fireworks show for Canada Day

Kamloops council has voted in favour of bringing back fireworks for next year’s Canada Day festivities.

On Tuesday, city council voted in favour of bringing the firework show, with only coun. Dale Bass opposed.

This year, the city hosted its first-ever drone show to close out the July 1 celebration.

However, it was not met with a lot of enthusiasm.

The show had to start earlier than planned due to bad weather and was not as high in the sky, which was great for people viewing in Riverside Park but not so great for people further away, staff said.

The staff report says the 18-minute presentation included 200 drones and cost $42,000, which is more than double the 2023 fireworks show.

Staff said some of the pros of a drone show included no negative impacts on animals or people experiencing things like PTSD and the ability to happen in dry conditions that typically see fireworks cancelled.

However, despite the potential of the show being cancelled due to wildfire risk, city council has opted to go the traditional route for next year’s Canada Day celebration.

City staff said next year’s fireworks would cost about $25,000.

Coun. Kelly Hall asked if staff had considered exploring options to have local business sponsor the show to save the city a bit of money.

City staff said that option hadn’t been considered but it was “definitely” something worth looking into to offset some of the costs.