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45th annual Griz Days is here!
Come out and safely enjoy Fernie’s 45th annual Griz Days Friday, March 4 to Sunday, March 6.
This year’s festival will be a more familiar format after last year’s mostly virtual celebrations. This means fan favourites like live music (from local band Mount Rushka), the lumberjack show, snow sculptors, the Extreme Griz competition, the downtown parade, fireworks display, and the Dummy Downhill will all be returning to this year’s line-up.
While the festival will look and feel much more familiar, there are still a few modifications that have been made on account of the pandemic.
There will be no beer garden in Station Square, but people are encouraged to visit the nearby Fernie Legion (which has been closed by Public Health Orders for a lot of this winter) and other local bars/restaurants for a refreshment.
The fireworks display will be at a higher elevation than normal to be viewable from all over the community if people aren’t comfortable gathering downtown.
The parade route has been modified this year to support physical distancing along the entirety of the route, and to account for feedback from the community in previous years.
Please note that access to Save-On-Foods will be via its parking lot entrance on 8th Street for the duration of the closures.
Parade floats and participants in the parade will gather from 5:30 p.m. along 8th Street (between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue).
The parade begins at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Road Closures and Modifications
To support events taking place in Station Square, 1st Avenue will be closed from 5th Street to 6th Street all day on Saturday 5 March, with limited vehicular access to this area from Thursday, 3 March to Sunday, 6 March.
Businesses and the public are asked to avoid parking in the Station Square area of the downtown core for the duration of the festival.
On Saturday, March 5, events will start in Station Square at 2 p.m. at which time the City of Fernie will begin closing 2nd Avenue for the Griz Goes Wild Parade.
The closures for the parade are outlined in the map below and attached. The parade route will mean the closure of 2nd Avenue from the corner of 8th Street (outside Barkside) to the corner of 5th Street (outside the Fernie Museum) from 2 p.m. in preparation for the parade. The parade route will then turn right along 5th Street to 3rd Avenue, and will turn right again on to 3rd Avenue, which will be closed from 5th Street to 8th Street.
See the full weekend events schedule here
e-KNOW file photos
Fernie Chamber of Commerce
