After a two year hiatus, Canada Day is back in Brome Lake. The Canada Day planning committee was given the official green light from the provincial government in January and received confirmation of funding to organize the festivities from the Town of Brome Lake in April. Keeping with tradition, the Canada Day festivities will be taking place at the Lion’s Park in Knowlton and the program will feature activities such as the antique car show, face painting, the children’s bike show, and more. 

“We’re very excited to be back and we really hope to put together a very special Canada Day. The fun part is that Canada Day this year falls on July 1st, which is a Friday, so we are having Canada Day on Canada Day,” said Marta Gubert Gomes, member of the planning committee. 

The committee only started working on the festivities in April, they usually start in January, due to having to wait for confirmation from the provincial government and the town, but it still managed to get the event up and running with the help of its collaborators. 

“We have many financial collaborators, we’re very fortunate. We of course have the Town of Brome Lake who pays for the fireworks and the music of the fireworks. That is a big piece of Canada Day, it’s a traditional ending of the festivities. We also have businesses. (…) I’m just going to say there are many generous businesses and organizations that support us. We wouldn’t be able to hold Canada Day without them,” mentioned Gubert Gomes. 

Gomes said they have to fundraise every year and they collect just enough to make the event possible. In terms of programming for 2022, the committee decided to stick with its Canada Day traditions. 

“We have the dog show for children. That I can say, this year, because of the unfortunate passing of Jeri McGovern last year, she had been doing the dog show forever, we had to find a new sponsor. We did find a sponsor with Cani Coiffe which is a dog groomer out of Cowansville. (…) We are very excited about that. We have the free hot dogs, the free cake, the free ice cream, and oh yes, the children’s bike parade,” noted Gubert Gomes. 

The children’s bike parade is always a favourite. 

“This year, the bikes have to be decorated as ‘my favourite Canadian season.’ They decorate their bikes, drive down the main path at the Lion’s Park, then we do the flag raising, and we award the prizes that are given to us Brome Fair again this year. We see who the best bike is. We have a panel of judges and it’s a very, very, special little event,” said Gubert Gomes. 

There will also be a magician, a balloon artist, and two face painters. 

“We don’t have anything new, we just amplified what we already had to make it a better experience for the families,” added Gubert Gomes. 

Canada Day in Brome Lake will be taking place on Friday, July 1 from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Lion’s Park located at 37 Chemin du Ctre, Knowlton. More information about the programming can be found on the committee’s Facebook page Lac-Brome/Brome Lake Fête du Canada Day

Listen to the interview below: