Waterfront Festival Midway to move to Victoria Park

In February, the Town announced that the East Pier would be closed to vehicles and events due to damage that needs to be assessed.  One of the consequences is that the Midway for the Waterfront Festival cannot be located there so it needed to find a new location.  After looking at several options, it was decided to put it in Victoria Park – at the South-East end near the pavilion.  Since the Midway “rides” are accompanied by loud “music”, there are potential problems with nearby residents as well as a clash with music in the Bandshell.  It has already been decided that the music will be turned off completely from 1:45 p.m. until 2:45 p.m. on July 1st to avoid interfering with Canada Day celebrations.  Note that these celebrations will be an hour later this year – the Canada Day parade will start at 1:00 p.m.

Midway location in Victoria park
Midway location in Victoria park

Both Rotary and Lions have agreed to the change – the Lions will now locate their new Lumberjack Demonstration in the area in Victoria Park just north of Queen St. 

The hours this year for the Midway are:

  • Friday June 29 — 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
  • Saturday June 30 and Sunday July 1 – 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
  • Monday July 2 – 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Given the height of some of the rides, they need to be away from trees but as the map shows (click to enlarge), that area of Victoria Park has no trees.

There are still concerns that the noise will be objectionable to nearby residents but there will be a door-to-door campaign to advise residents and somehow convince them to put up with it.  It is not clear if it will also interfere with music at the bandshell – since the Midway will be quiet during Canada day celebrations, that implies that there will be a conflict.

This change was approved with a motion by Council at their regular meeting on Tuesday May 22.

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Ralph Torrie
5 years ago

I grew up beside Victoria Park and moved back into the neighbourhood 14 years ago. I love that it is a public space and I enjoy watching people enjoy it. But those of us who live next to the park are also watching its year-by-year ecological deterioration. Cobourg does not have a fairground, and so Victoria Park ends up being the locale for “industrial strength” events and activities for which a park would not normally be considered an appropriate venue. Visit the heritage parks in towns like Perth, Stratford, or even London Ontario to get a sense of what we have lost in Cobourg, and think about it the next time the Rotary Club’s semi-trailers full of beer and frozen pork go ploughing (there is no other word for it) across the grass in Victoria Park. The ecological abuse of the park has become the new normal in Cobourg; moving the midway off the grass was a step forward, moving it back onto the grass is a step backward.

Walter L. Luedtke
5 years ago

Excellent decision!
This opens up lots of possibilities for restoring and enhancing the east pier.
And.
Folks who live next to a public space, like a park, tend to be the first to complain when the public uses that space.
Hope this won’t happen here.

Wally Keeler
5 years ago

In my childhood days the carnival midway rides were on the baseball diamond. The location is west of the Lion’s picnic pavilion. Almost deja vu.

ben
Reply to  Wally Keeler
5 years ago

But in a previous Parks and Rec Master Plan the diamond was taken out of service “Because the Park is tired” The bloody place is completely knackered now.

Frenchy
Reply to  ben
5 years ago

Maybe all those young fit bodies networking and frolicking wore out all the grass.

Rob Murney
5 years ago

sounds like another decision not completely thought out again by council

Deborah OConnor
5 years ago

Glad to hear the Town and service clubs have found a temporary home for the Midway. Seems reasonable and for those who don’t care for the noise created by our town’s fabulous celebration of Canada Day, I have some advice: they should seriously consider moving far away from our public park. Now let’s celebrate!

Kim
Reply to  Deborah OConnor
5 years ago

Might be worth noting that the midway used to be where all the new condos now are – so I hope the condo owners won’t be the ones complaining 😉

Kyle
Reply to  Kim
5 years ago

No shortage of class envy

Durka
Reply to  Kyle
5 years ago

What class envy? It’s simply a matter of people moving beside public spaces and then complaining when the public uses them.

Tim
Reply to  Kyle
5 years ago

It’s very monotonous, offensive and too easy to accuse someone of “class envy” when they’re expressing the obvious.

Kyle
Reply to  Tim
5 years ago

Really? So is portraying people immediately in the negative based solely on where they live.