Usually every summer people come from across southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba for a fireworks spectacle at Moosomin Regional Park. There鈥檚 tens of thousands of people, food and drink, bands performing, and of course, the fireworks.
The Living Skies Come Alive International Fireworks Competition is a beloved event in Canada and draws competitors from all over the globe, as far as China and the Philippines鈥攊t鈥檚 the largest event in southeast Saskatchewan.
It鈥檚 a world-class competition that鈥檚 on the same level as some of the best international fireworks competitions. Thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours are invested into the competition each year with it all coming together as the fireworks mesmerize over Moosomin Lake.
From the competitors to the planners to the performers to the vendors to all the spectators it draws, it鈥檚 one of the most important weekends of the year for the local economy.
In 2020, the event had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic restricting gathering sizes and international travel鈥攊t would have been the 11th year of the fireworks in Moosomin.
For the second straight summer, the competition looks unlikely to go forward.
Although August is still months away, preparation for such a large event begins early and Karen Hebert, head of the fireworks committee, says that without knowing what will be allowed down the road, there鈥檚 just no way of planning such a substantial gathering.
鈥淯ntil we can gather a large amount of people it鈥檚 just definitely not an option,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur crowds are in the thousands so whenever the guidelines open up, is when we鈥檒l be able to look at something like this, but until then, it鈥檚 definitely not an option at all. For now it鈥檚 off the table unless things open up, I can鈥檛 see that happening.鈥�
Another factor working against the event right now is that it鈥檚 an international competition and non-essential travel is not recommended, meaning any competition would need to be strictly Canadian.
鈥淲ith the parameters that are in place right now, I just can鈥檛 see things being able to open up enough and then also even if we could gather people, would we have to have two Canadian companies? Because do you want to bring other countries in? And with the travel restrictions, at this point in time it鈥檚 not an option.鈥�
Hebert doesn鈥檛 believe any fireworks event will be able to happen this summer based on how things are looking in Canada with the slow rollout of the vaccine and says all they can do is sit and wait with no control over what鈥檚 to come.
鈥淭here鈥檚 really nothing we can do about it and at this point in time,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 see the fireworks being able to happen in 2021 unless some major changes happen, but the way we鈥檙e going right now and with the lack of vaccines, I just can鈥檛 see things opening up very much.鈥�
Alternate options for the event are under consideration if things open up more, but it鈥檚 a logistically tough situation to work with, says Hebert.
鈥淥ur main fireworks contact with the Canadian company is Peter (Palmer of CanFire Pyrotechnics) and he called me last fall hoping we could do something smaller, but at that time people would have had to drive in and park somewhere to see it and we don鈥檛 have a facility in order to handle that,鈥� she said.
The best chance of a fireworks show for this summer at Moosomin Lake would be if gathering restrictions open up and a smaller scale event is possible within the guidelines.
鈥淚f we can host something then we鈥檇 for sure look into that,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e discussed different options, but until we can actually gather people, none of those can be planned out.鈥�
In a normal situation, nearly a full year of planning goes into the competition to ensure entertainment, vendors, and competitions are set, but given the circumstances, the committee hasn鈥檛 been able to do anything in preparation for the summer of 2021.
鈥淲e would have already started planning,鈥� she said. 鈥淥nce we put the previous year鈥檚 to bed, we鈥檇 maybe take the rest of the month off and then we鈥檇 start again by September to get ready for the next year. We need to book our bands and entertainment and all of that stuff so we would have already had a lot of prep work done at this point in time.鈥�
At this point, Hebert doesn鈥檛 even think 2022 is a sure thing for the fireworks competition because of all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and nobody knowing what the 鈥渘ew normal鈥� will look like as the world recovers from Covid-19.
鈥淭his is just the reality of our new Covid life,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat are they going to do for large concerts and large gatherings of people? I don鈥檛 know when that will return or what that could even look like in the future. Nobody can really say anything, we really know nothing.鈥�
