Return of Sea Cavalcade cancelled in response to pandemic

The return of Sea Cavalcade to Gibsons will have to wait for next summer, as COVID-19 forces event organizers across the province to reassess their plans.

In an April 19 Facebook message and email to Sea Cavalcade volunteers, Phill Murray, who was heading the organizing committee, said in light of the ongoing pandemic, “The rational response therefore would be to announce that Sea Cavalcade 2020 will be cancelled and hopefully resume in the future with an examination of the facts related to a 2021 event.”

Murray told Coast Reporter he’d been reaching out to organizing committee members over the past several days and they came to the consensus that cancelling the 2020 event was the correct decision.

“I’ve asked people to look around at where they could take their Sea Cavalcade energy and become positive – maybe help a neighbour, check in on someone who’s sick or in some way help out,” Murray said.

When asked at an April 18 briefing for her advice for organizers of large-scale events scheduled during the summer, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said, “Realistically, we will not be having those big events where people gather together this summer. That is a much riskier prospect than ever before. We do not have enough herd immunity or community immunity to protect everybody and allow that type of event to happen… This is not the time for that and it’s not going to be through this summer.”

Gibsons Mayor Bill Beamish said he’s disappointed but thinks the decision is “clearly understandable,” especially after Henry’s comments.

This summer was to have seen the relaunch of the Sea Cavalcade after the cancellation of the event following its 50th anniversary in 2018.

The Town of Gibsons had set aside $15,000 in its budget for Sea Cavalcade, which has been a regular line item for several years. When the event was cancelled last year, some of that money was funnelled into the Gibsons Lantern Festival, which has also been hoping to stage an event some time this year.

Beamish said how to allocate that money this year will likely be discussed by council as they finalize the budget.

Murray said that while formal planning for Sea Cavalcade 2020 is no longer taking place, organizers and volunteers are looking toward 2021 and will continue informally exploring some of the ideas they’d been working on up to now.

“We’re going to come back and I think for many people it’s going to be absence makes the heart grow fonder – that’s what I’m counting on,” Murray said. “Gibsons Sea Cavalcade is about history and I also think it’s about optimism for the future… We’ve got great community support.”

Beamish said he is hoping to see some sort of community event take place later this year, once health authorities give the all clear.

“I really do think we need an event, something that will bring the community together so we can have a celebration, so we’ll keep our eye out for that opportunity,” Beamish said. “It’s challenging right now and we need something to look forward to.”