Settler Days parade. (Town of Coaldale)

By David Opinko

Coaldale’s Settler Days festival to rebrand, take place in August going forward

Nov 25, 2021 | 1:56 PM

COALDALE, AB – The Town of Coaldale’s annual summer festival will undergo some changes heading into the 2022 event.

Council voted this week to seek a new name for Settler Days and for it to take place in the first week of August.

Traditionally, the event is held in the first week of July.

For the 2021 iteration, however, COVID-19 restrictions prevented it from happening at the normal time, so the town instead held it in early August and themed it around celebrating the new Main Street Revitalization, calling it “Celebrate Main”.

Mayor Jack Van Rijn says it was a big success and was well-received by the community.

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Going forward, the town will seek a new name for the festival.

“By no means are we minimizing the term ‘settler’ for this area, we just want to be very true to our Indigenous neighbours and we do not want to have any reason for divisiveness.”

In the months ahead, the public will be consulted on what Settler Days should be called instead.

Moving it to the first week of August would remove the struggles of it conflicting with the Southern Alberta Summer Games and would make it easier for Coaldale Custom Cruisers to put on a classic car showcase.

As well, the town would look to keep most festivities along the Main Street area.

The Candy Parade is one of Settler Days’ biggest attractions, which sees upwards of 5,000 people line up along Main Street. After it is done, however, everyone moves towards Millennium Park for an afternoon for activities, meaning the downtown core is all but abandoned.

It has yet to be decided how the town could potentially configure the Candy Parade, but they assure that it will continue to be part of the festival.

Van Rijn says he “wants to do it right” and make sure everyone has their voices heard.

The mayor has started to post council meeting briefs on his YouTube page, “Town of Coaldale Mayor, Jack Van Rijn,” where he goes over all decisions and discussions made during council meetings. You can watch this week’s council meeting brief below.