The city of Port Coquitlam opened its 95th May Days festival last Friday with the Royal Party.
The festival runs until May 13 with free family fun around the municipality including the annual Rotary May Day Parade on Saturday, May 12.
This year's parade starts at 10:30 a.m. with a pre-show by the Vancouver Police Department motorcycle drill squad; the official parade begins at 11 a.m.
And don't forget the pre-parade pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. in The Outlet at Leigh Square Community Arts Village for $4, benefitting the 4th PoCo Scouts.
Party in the Square (formerly the Community Block Party) will follow the parade on May 12 from about noon to 5 p.m., and include:
· Live entertainment in the Leigh Square bandshell headlined by indie rockers The Matinée
· Children’s crafts and activities in the free Kids Zone
· The Artisan Market, PoCo Biz Alley tradeshow and community displays
· Historical trolley tours leaving every half hour from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
· An emergency preparedness fair
· Food trucks and a beverage garden.
Art lovers can also drop by the Michael Wright Art Gallery in Leigh Square, where the Imaginings art exhibit by Riverside and Terry Fox Secondary students will run until June 25.
Meanwhile, on May 11 at 6 p.m., Bryan Ness of PoCo Heritage will guide the year’s first free heritage walk, a leisurely and informative look at Port Coquitlam’s past.
That same evening at 7 p.m., the 80-member Choral Connections Choir will fill Leigh Square with the theme of earth, sea and sky during their free performance in the bandshell.
After the events downtown on May 12, the festivities wrap up May 13 with the Mother’s Day Picnic at Lion’s Park. The Kinsmen Club will host a $4 pancake breakfast from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May Pole dancing and free family activities will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
PARKING AND ROAD CLOSURES
May 11
· Afternoon access to parking lots around Leigh Square will be limited due to tent installations and set ups. Some parking lots will stay closed until noon on Sunday May 13. Street parking is available before and after the parade.
· Leigh Square Place east of Shaughnessy St. will be closed from 7am May 11 to 7pm May 12
May 12
· 7am – 7pm - Donald Street and the laneway behind Dairy Queen will be closed
· 7am – 1pm - Shaughnessy (Pitt River to Atkins) Rindall, Central, Hawthorne, Welcher and Tyner Avenues will be closed for parade assembly and dispersal from 9am to 1pm with no on street parking from 7am – 1pm.
· 10am to 1:30pm Shaughnessy St from Wilson Ave to the Shaughnessy St Underpass, Elgin Ave. & Mary Hill Rd, & Hawthorne to Tyner will be closed during the parade
Port Coquitlam first celebrated May Day as a community in 1923, with May Pole dancing and the crowning of a May Queen. While the festival has evolved and grown over the years, it has maintained many of its original traditions, including May Pole dancing and the crowning of local children as May Day “royalty” – a May Queen and Ambassador along with a Royal Party.
Full event details, including road closures and parking visit portcoquitlam.ca/maydays.
