Canada Day festivities in Saskatoon drew big crowds despite new location

Canada Day festivities in Saskatoon were a big success this year.

The weather was perfect, and an estimated 55,000 people showed up to celebrate the country’s birthday.

Read More:

• Saskatoon’s Canada Day fireworks moved to new location
• Saskatoon Police Briefs: Alleged robber arrested wearing stolen clothes
• Some Saskatoon parks, playgrounds getting a makeover in 2025

“There were an awful lot of people down there having a good time,” said Shad Ali, Saskatoon’s Canada Day festival organizer.

“Weather always helps, and everyone was able to come out and enjoy the day fully.”

Organizing this year’s event came with a new set of challenges for Ali and his team, as they had to deal with construction on the Broadway Bridge. That forced them to move the fireworks display to a different location in Rotary Park.

“We certainly had to do some modifications. Plan F and G, I think, got instituted. We did, of course, make the plan to go onto the river with barges, but with the low water level in the river we had to scrap that plan and we were able to go on land,” Ali explained.

“Our fireworks team is pretty experienced in this area, and we were able to launch fireworks from Rotary Park (and) keep all the residents in that area safe. I think it was actually one of the better fireworks shows we’ve had down there.”

Because of the lack of space available this year, the footprint was smaller, but Ali said it worked out well, as they were able to incorporate more of the River Landing area into the celebrations.

Ali said the fireworks will likely return to the Broadway Bridge next year, but he thinks the event could also be expanded to meet the growing demand.

“We’re able to do a very unique kind of show when we’re launching fireworks from the Broadway Bridge, so very likely we’ll go back to doing that, but just increase the footprint given the number of people that are coming down,” Ali said. “It allows us to do a few more things.”

There were plenty of performances held at River Landing to mark Canada Day in Saskatoon. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW)

Overall, Ali said he couldn’t be happier with how this year’s event went.

“One of the things that was amazing down there is the way in which we were able to celebrate Canada and Saskatchewan and Saskatoon. To see the many faces and cultures that were represented down there was simply spectacular,” Ali explained.

“The kind of food that we had in food trucks, the performances that we had on the stages and everyone really co-operating – we had many people shoulder to shoulder across that large footprint. People just helped one another, shared space with one another, and it was really something beautiful to experience and be a part of.”

Window falls out of downtown building, causing spray park to close

While most people had a great time celebrating Canada Day, the events in downtown Saskatoon could’ve turned ugly as a window fell from a building near River Landing in the afternoon on Tuesday.

Ali said he was there when it happened, and measures were taken to make sure everyone near the building was OK. The spray park in the area was also closed as a precaution.

“We had some programming in K W Nasser Plaza, and they’ve had some issues since that plaza was built. We had one of the windows high up, I think about the 14th floor, pop. No one got harmed or injured. We did have to empty the plaza for safety reasons, just to keep everybody in a good spot,” Ali said.

“People were pretty co-operative to move out of the area.”

The city of Saskatoon confirmed the fire department was called out to the plaza Tuesday because of the report of glass falling from the building. They assisted with closing the plaza down for safety reasons.

The city said in a statement that with the cooperation of the property owner, the Saskatoon Fire Department is conducting an investigation at Nutrien Tower under the Property Maintenance Bylaw.