It started yesterday. The annual spring festival always begins during the Victoria Day long weekend and runs through the end of the US Memorial Day weekend. It's a tradition in New Westminster.Probably the most famous and popular event is the Hyack International parade with around 140 entries from around British Columbia, Washington state, and as far afield as California.
The history of the events spring from festivities around May Day. The city likes to boast that this it the longest-running celebration of its type in the Commonwealth. Another deeply-rooted part of the festival is the anvil firing. The anvil battery has fired a 21-gun salute to Queen Victoria since the late 1800's. The Hyack Voluntary Fire Brigade first used anvils because there was a shortage of guns. In colouful costumes, members continue the event tomorrow at noon. The modern version of the festival with its many scheduled, community events started in the early 1970's.
Fireworks were exploded from a barge on the Fraser River last night. Here's an example I photographed from the balcony of the apartment.
