Canada Day in Cobourg – 2018 Details

This year, Canada Day is on a Sunday so the parade will start at 1:00 pm and not noon as usual.  The route will be the same, from five corners to Victoria Park along King Street.  Speeches will start at 2:00 pm in the bandshell and they will be followed by entertainment with the usual fireworks over the harbour at 10:00 pm.  The Midway will be located this year in Victoria Park in the South East corner.  This is because the pier is subject to an engineering review with expensive repairs likely needed.  Once again the Lions area will not charge for entry and the Rotary Arts and Crafts show will charge $5 for a day pass. Below is a map of locations.  Two free shuttle busses will operate bringing in people from Donegan Park (overflow parking), the Mall and the Community Centre – all these locations offer free parking.  They will have drop-off locations at the Midway location, the Albert St. Bus Shelter and at the Marina. 

Shuttle Schedule

  • Saturday June 30: 9:30 to 10:00 pm
  • Sunday July 1: 9:30 to 12:00 am
  • Monday July 2: 9:30 to 6:00pm

Cobourg Transit will be operating it’s usual schedule including a Regular Sunday schedule on July 1.  Go here for the Transit details.

The Festival runs from Saturday June 30 to Monday July 2 – entertainment is listed here.  There will be no Sky Hawks demonstration, nor will the Snowbirds be there but the Rotary Arts and Craft Show, the Lions Marketplace and the bandshell entertainment will continue all weekend.  The Festival has its own web site here

If it’s hot (it usually is), the Waterpark should be operating and lifeguards should have two new stations – at least that’s what the Town is hoping for.  There is no problem with high water this year so the beach will be in good shape. Dredging and bringing sand back to the beach should be finished by then – there was still a pile of sand on June 23.

The Midway will operate from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and will turn off sound during the Canada Day speeches. Friday it will open around 5 p.m. and Monday it will close at 4 p.m.   

If you want to do something different on Canada Day, Trinity United Church on Division Street is holding a Historical Tour of 1852 with a Hospitality Cafe serving Strawberry Shortcake and refreshments. It runs from 1:30 to 4:30.  There is no admission fee. 

Waterfront Festival Map 2018
Waterfront Festival Map 2018

 

Download map as a printable pdf here

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Walter L. Luedtke
5 years ago

The Cobourg Waterfront Festival is 31 years old.
And to my knowledge every year some folks have complained about it taking up too much space, parking, noise, too many strangers in town etc, etc. Looks like this year won’t be an exception.
The Cobourg Waterfront Festival is a huge undertaking.
Every year hundreds of volunteers and dozens of sponsors help our Lions and Rotarians help our community. The Festival and the other hundreds of events staffed by volunteers are just part of what makes Cobourg one of Canada’s Best Places to Live.

Ralph Torrie
5 years ago

The setup seems to be unnecessarily early this year — its only Monday and the south lawn if full of transport trucks this morning, adding several days to the length of time the festival takes the south lawn out of the public domain. In fact, it takes it out of use altogether for the next few days.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Ralph Torrie
5 years ago

That was a point I made public a few years ago. Glad you woke up.

Ralph Torrie
Reply to  Wally Keeler
5 years ago

Happy to have made you glad, Wally! That you were able to draw attention a few years ago to how early the setup was in 2018 is truly remarkable — a time traveller in our midst!

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Ralph Torrie
5 years ago

I wasn’t a prediction; it was a wish. Glad that it happened in 2018, although it should have been set up in a single overnight at best, or a single day/night if they need the slack.

Walter L. Luedtke
5 years ago

Will be fun to see the Waterpark in action.
Proud to be in “One of Canada’s Best Places to Live”.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Walter L. Luedtke
5 years ago

There will be lots of noise from happy bouncing children, and a lot of hee haw from teens. Fun and frolic on public display. Just enough happiness to make some unhappy. I will be looking at the student hires and their satisfaction of earning their tuition and college fees. I will be looking at 10% revenue towards the Town coffers (a horrible thing according to the CTA). Opposition to the waterpark is the stupidest thing the CTA has ever done and it was done so publicly.

Tim
Reply to  Wally Keeler
5 years ago

Yes, there will be lots of noise all right from children whose parents can afford the admission fee and it will continue all day every day. It will be happy noise for the bouncers until they clash heads, break something or worse. It’s a degraded form of entertainment and a ghastly, cheap-looking blemish on our lovely lake. At the end of the season, we’ll see if your projection of 10% revenue to the town is actually realized. Thank God some people, like members of the CTA have the brain power to realize what a disaster the waterpark is for Cobourg.

Deborah OConnor
Reply to  Tim
5 years ago

There is NO ADMISSION TICKET! The fun is free, all of it except for the Crafts tent. I am proud of the Waterfront Festival and all the volunteers and Town staff who work hard to bring this celebration to our town every year!

The cranky complainers can just stay home; they won’t be missed.

Fact Checker
Reply to  Deborah OConnor
5 years ago

The thread concerns the floating playground, for which there is most definitely a fee

Tim
Reply to  Deborah OConnor
5 years ago

You are so right, Deborah, the cranky complainers can just stay home and the crude cretins can go to the beach.

Elaine
Reply to  Tim
5 years ago

They have these all over the world. What’s the problem with Cobourh having one???

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Elaine
5 years ago

There are a handful grumps, gripes and groaners that hate to see people having fun, students earning their tuition and a business making money for the Town.

Tim
Reply to  Wally Keeler
5 years ago

Grumps, gripes and groaners often have a better hold on reality than fantasists, fabulists and fools.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Tim
5 years ago

What a crock comparison. “better hold on reality” yes, yes, TIM YOU ARE A SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE, knowing the hearts and minds and genius of grumps, gripes and groaners from the geriatric ghetto as well as you do.

BTW, in the 1950s a Cobourg resident could never see the Great Lake from the intersection of King/Division. Trees and house were always in the way. I was there. The same today. Make up another weeny wheezer whine.

Tim
Reply to  Wally Keeler
5 years ago

Maybe you aren’t the most observant person. Perhaps you’re talents lay somewhere other than the visual because my grandmother, who was born, raised and lived all of her life in Cobourg commented, after the “improvements” at the waterfront, that for the first time you could no longer see the horizon (you know, where lake meets sky) from King and Division.
And there was a time when you could see the cupola of the Town Hall from the beach. A very beautiful sight, particularly with a streaky sunset in the background. That’s gone, too. And you probably haven’t missed that either.
BTW, alliteration is a bore.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Tim
5 years ago

At the end of the season, we’ll see if your projection of 10% revenue to the town is actually realized.”

Get your facts, such as they are, straight. The 10% is NOT MY projection.

Yes, the CTA has the brain power to dismiss easy revenue for the Town.
Yes, the CTA has the brain power to dismiss student jobs to earn their tuition.
Yes, the CTA has the brain power to realize that fun and frolic is a degraded entertainment.

Tim
Reply to  Wally Keeler
5 years ago

Let’ count the cash at the end of the season, shall we? As for student jobs, I know that some of the kids who have worked as regular lifeguards at the beach were from out of town so I’d like to know just how many of these jobs are actually benefitting students from Cobourg. No one suggests that fun and frolic are degraded. Children have always had fun and frolicked on our beautiful beach. Waterparks are disgusting to look at and tremendously noisy, which deprives most people from enjoying the beach for the few months a year when it is at its most beautiful and destroys the peace of anyone living within earshot. It is indeed a degraded form of entertainment and I’m very sorry for anyone who doesn’t have the capacity to realize that, but people have different sensibilities.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Tim
5 years ago

Take a five minute walk to the beautiful, natural, peaceful west beach open 24/7 all year round.

Likewise, I know some of the kids who have worked as regular lifeguards at the beach from Cobourg. Whether the student comes from Cobourg, Baltimore, Grafton, Gores Landing, Alderville, is less important than that an Ontario student gets a summer job. We all win when student jobs provide experience and money.

Wally Keeler
Reply to  Tim
5 years ago

FACEBOOK posted this from Cobourg Beach Water Park.
June 26, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
With the warmer temperatures and the end of the school year fast approaching, Cobourg is preparing for the opening of the new floating water park at Cobourg Beach. Through a partnering between Summer Water Sports, At The Lake Distributing Incorporated and the Town of Cobourg, staff have been busy finalizing details for Ontario’s largest water park, which includes one large park with slides, obstacles courses and bouncers for kids and adults aged 9+ and a smaller park designed for younger children to be accompanied by an adult.
Using the highest safety standards in the industry, the water park will be constructed of commercial-grade materials and safety connection points, and all patrons of the park must wear Canadian Coast-Guard approved life jackets, which will be provided by the water park staff as part of the cost of admission.
The water park will be open daily and will also be available during designated hours for private rentals.
As the excitement builds towards the grand opening, one critical detail is causing a delay: the absence of a sufficient number of qualified life guards to work at the park.
All parties involved in the opening of the water park have been diligently sourcing life guards since the spring through on-line, agency and word-of-mouth advertising. Unfortunately, the total number of lifeguards required to safely open the park have not been hired. The team is disappointed, as this park has been in development for many, many months, but everyone remains optimistic.
If you know a lifeguard (must have NLS qualifications) who would be interested in working at the Cobourg Beach this summer on Ontario’s largest water park, either full or part time, please contact Geordie Newlands at Summer Water Sports – (705) 765-0424 or [email protected]. Please note that the lifeguard positions pay higher than average wages along with other exciting incentives. New staff will also be provided training for their waterfront designation.

Tim
Reply to  Walter L. Luedtke
5 years ago

Why be an observer? Get yourself a ticket and have a go.

Miriam Mutton
5 years ago

The print version of the Festival Guide also has a full page ad sponsored by the Town of Cobourg describing bicycle parking areas. Notably, there will be racks by Centennial Pool, in Victoria Park, behind the Bandshell and at Victoria Hall.