K-Days officially kicks off in Edmonton Friday morning and for the first time in decades, the parade route will be along Jasper Avenue.
It has been so long since the parade was on Jasper, that the organization that runs K-Days doesn’t know exactly when it moved.
Northlands spokesperson Lori Cote believes it was sometime in the late 1980s.
Just why it was moved isn’t clear either, although it probably had something to do with a revitalization project that added medians and decorative planters to Jasper Avenue.
The parade is being moved back to Jasper from 102nd Avenue because of construction.
But Shirley Lowe, former Edmonton historian laureate, urges Northlands to keep the parade on Jasper in future years.
“I think that if you’re going to make Jasper Avenue the main street, you’ve got to start having stuff on Jasper Avenue,” she said.
A marching band during the 2016 K-Days parade. (CBC)
Lowe said the move reinforces the idea that the parade is a community spirit event.
“Nothing says community spirit like a lot of main street storefronts,” she said. “That’s part of the tradition.”
Lowe remembers seeing the parade many times along Jasper Avenue.
Parade squeezed under CPR bridge
The height of the floats was restricted to what could fit under the old CPR bridge that crossed Jasper Avenue at 109th Street, she said.
“The parade went across 109th Street, under the CPR bridge and I think it went as far as 124th Street,” she said.
Lowe remembers the parade as “absolutely huge” back then.
“You had to get out there pretty early in the morning to get a front row seat.”
As a kid, she used to take newspapers to spread out on the sidewalk so she could sit down, while her parents brought lawn chairs.
“You’d get the morning off if you were working downtown,” she said. “I mean, shops didn’t even pretend to open until after the parade.”
Klondike theme
Many people would also be dressed in Klondike costumes during the parade, back when the “K” in K-Days stood for Klondike.
“People were sweating to death in their hot clothes,” she said.
Lowe also remembers storefronts decorated in the Klondike theme.
“The parade was a signal that this was an exciting event that was happening and in those days, it certainly was,” she said.
The friendly neighbourhood Spiderman in the 2016 K-Days parade. (CBC)
How to get there
Friday’s parade starts at 10 a.m. at 97th Street and Jasper Avenue and will travel west on Jasper to 108th Street.
Travel and parking restrictions will be enforced along the route from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
An assembly area east of downtown will be closed from 6:30 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Parade goers are advised to use transit, and to plan ahead.
However, many bus routes in the downtown area will detour for the parade, starting in the early morning and continuing until after the parade ends.
A map showing the parade route, and information on transit service, travel delays, parking restrictions and road closures can be found here.
K-Days runs from July 21-30.