Banff is planning to place temporary fencing along the route for next year’s Canada Day parade as a safety measure given growing crowds at the annual July 1 event.
At a service review meeting Wednesday (Nov. 16), council approved spending $7,800 for a 3.5-foot fence to be installed on the Banff Avenue median from Moose Street to Buffalo Street, and on Buffalo Street from Banff Avenue to Bear Street. Nothing is final until budget is passed.
The Town of Banff contracts professional crowd control for the parade, but officials say the crowd continues to move onto the parade route, putting both parade entries and public at risk of an incident.
They say crowd fencing is required to keep spectators safely back from moving vehicles, horses and marching bands, and allow the floats to make their way safely down the parade route.
“There have been concerns of safety for the crowd with the floats that come down the streets,” said Silvio Adamo, Banff’s fire chief and protective services manager.
“Obviously, people want to get as close as possible to the parade and at times it becomes unsafe, particularly for younger kids that sit on the curbs reaching for candy and things that are thrown into the crowd.”
The Canada Day parade is the most popular of Banff’s July 1 celebrations, drawing an average of 45 entries, including five to seven marching bands, motorized floats and equestrians. Attendance grows each year and 2016 attracted record crowds.
Some of the most popular parade entries for the event have expressed concerns about safety and one popular equestrian entry has dropped out.
All of council supported the move for fencing, saying safety trumps everything.
“This is sad, but how can you turn down something that we’re hearing isn’t safe?” said Councillor Chip Olver.
At the same meeting, it was announced that Banff’s Canada Day parade will move from 5 p.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The parade time has been changed to 11:30 a.m. following a debriefing with Banff’s protective services and local RCMP.
The thinking is morning is a time when traffic can be better managed, as opposed to the evening when visitors head back to town from their day’s activities in the park, or check into their hotels at a time when both access points are closed off to host the parade.
Canmore, which hosts its Canada Day parade at noon, has also been consulted on Banff’s changed parade time.
“They will continue to host their parade at noon, and that means we will not be cost-sharing as we have in the past with our bands,” said Diana Waltmann, Banff’s communications manager.
“With these two measures, we believe we will make the parade that much better.”
Mayor Karen Sorensen said she understands the change in time for the parade, but is nonetheless disappointed.
“You might make it safer and that’s very, very important. I’m not sure it will make it better,” she said.
“Those bands that go between the two communities do that for that reason. So we might get picked or Canmore might get picked,” she added.
“I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it and I completely understand the rationale. It’s just a bit disappointing.”
The $7,800 for the fence rental includes installation and takedown.
The cost to purchase the same amount of fencing is about $71,000.
