Plans are in the works to make downtown Chilliwack both festive and fun for the holidays.
Funding for the ‘Downtown Chilliwack Country Christmas Village’ presented by the Downtown Chilliwack Business Improvement Association was approved by city council on Nov. 2 in the amount of $16,000.
About $6,000 of the total will go toward site preparation, according to the staff report to council.
There will be an outdoor Christmas Village (46187 Yale Road), and an indoor Christmas Village (46199 Yale Road) to enjoy in December. The Country Christmas Village opens on Dec. 4 complemented by food trucks, train rides, and Christmas carolers at locations throughout the downtown core. The village sites will be open until Dec. 30.
Also approved this week was $3,250 and in-kind resources for the ‘Light Up Chilliwack’ drive-through event, Thursday Dec. 2, 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m in the parking lot of the Chilliwack Coliseum, hosted by the Chilliwack Chamber of Commerce and the Chilliwack Chiefs. Candy and popcorn will be handed out with “a variety of characters” interacting with visitors.
But once again this year there will be no parade for Chilliwack. Rotary Club officials made the difficult decision to cancel the downtown parade in September.
City of Chilliwack had been partnering with local Rotary Clubs in the years before the pandemic to host the annual Christmas parade, and would chip in funding of $18,000 to help with the extensive event planning.
RELATED: Pandemic puts kibosh on parade
“With the implementation of COVID restrictions, set out by the Provincial Health Authority, there was no ability to offer the event in 2020,” the staff report explained.
“The Christmas Parade Committee did attempt to plan for a 2021 event but again the provincial health edicts put the planning process behind and the decision to postpone the parade for one more year was deemed necessary.”
RELATED: Parade turned into virtual holiday show
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