Community spirit will be seen throughout Cochrane this weekend.

Labour Day celebrations will begin tomorrow evening (August 31) with the Slimdor Rodeo but for many families, the Labour Day parade on Monday (September 3) is a top highlight.

Marina Chabbert, President of Cochrane Area Events Society along with Kailey Leonzio, Event Coordinator for the Cochrane Labour Day Parade, are crossing the 't's and dotting the 'i's on what will surely be a parade to remember.

This year parade spectators will toast to 50 years of beautiful floats, music, entertainment, and of course candy. Hitting a big milestone means attendees this year will see 72 floats, over 130 horses, and over 1030 people walking the route. Chabbert has been involved with the parade since 2011 and is looking forward to once again entertaining the mass of people that come from all over to enjoy Cochrane's Labour Day festivities. "We are so excited; it is quite an accomplishment to have a parade for 50 years and we are hoping it will be incredibly special."

With lots happening both Chabbert and Leonzio suggest you snag a spot early as streets will be closing at 8:15 am along the entire route.

Kicking off the annual parade will be a pancake breakfast hosted by the Cochrane Activettes in the Northstar Ford parking lot from 8:30 to 10 am ($3 per person or $10 per family) while pre-parade entertainment is scheduled to begin at 9 bells. With this year being their 50th, the parade committee is certainly doing it up right, states Leonzio. "We have six different pre-parade entertainment activities going on along the three major routes. We have 'Dangerous Goods' playing at the Crossfit parking lot, 'Highway 22' playing at Centennial Plaza, Stoney Native dancers will be along Centre Street, two magicians (one also a juggler), Batman, and the Chinook Line Dancers who will be near the library and performing down Railway."

Leading the entries this year will be Parade Marshalls, Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) who are also celebrating a huge anniversary. SLS has been in the Cochrane community for 75 years and Chabbert wanted to recognize both the success of the business as well as their incredible community support. "Seventy-five years is quite an accomplishment but it's not only the number of years that they've been in Cochrane. It's for their tremendous support for Cochrane residents, people, organizations for sponsorship and scholarships. They donate so much back to the community that it is means of thanking them in return for everything they have done for the community at large."

The parade will also feature a 40 piece band from the United Kingdom who just wrapped uptheir tour of Public Duties with a final guard mount at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace before heading to Canada and Cochrane. 'The Band of the Royal Logistics Corps' will not only be one of the leading performers in the parade but will also open festivities for the Cochrane Lions Rodeo final day. 

Parade watchers will see many of the usual entries as there is an incredible amount of businesses/floats that return year after year. One of the biggest changes this year for both participants and attendees is the change to the form up area and route.

With lands for the past form up area being sold, the parade committee had to find a new locale to handle all the floats, participants, and horses which in turn has impacted the overall route. Leonzio, shares they looked long and hard for an area suitable but finding a space large enough is limited in the Cochrane core. "We looked at doing it over in the east (industrial area) but there was no real big parking lot area that was going to work and of course one of the biggest challenges of using a parking lot is we have horses."

Feeling incredibly grateful to some businesses in the Quarry area, the Cochrane Labour Day Parade has a new place to form up in. With this being the first year lining up in a new location, Leonzio is hopeful it all goes smooth. Some residents have already vocalized their disappointment with the change of route, however, organizers feel from a participant standpoint the change is a positive one. "I know the Burnco area has been the area we have used for many, many years for form up but this change will save all the participants having to push their float's up that little hill and we found a lot of spectators weren't sitting on River anyways. Over the past couple of years, a lot of people flood onto Centre, Main Street or Railway, so by shortening up the route I think participants will be happy."

The other positive is for residents not wanting to take the parade in, Griffin Avenue will remain open this year. "Which gives people who are not attending the parade access to get anywhere in town without getting stuck."

Cochrane Area Events Society is also happy to report enough volunteers have stepped up and offered their time to help man barricades. A shortage of volunteers was an incredible concern for the organization who at one point was considering having to cancel the annual well-loved event. "We put a lot of calls out for volunteers but we've had a really good response and for the most part have filled all our spots. We had an orientation with our volunteers this past week and it went really well."

You can also hear the roar of 10,000rpm at the Crossfit location, right around 10 am, as the Dark Side Racing Team fires up the Top Fuel Dragster to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. With September being coined 'Prostate Awareness Month', Prostaid Calgary will be back out to educate both men and women about the importance of early detection. 

Generally in and around 12,000 to 15,000 people attend the parade and, of course, Chabbert says to make sure you plan to hit up the Cochrane Lion's Rodeo final day as well. 

Below you will find the map of the parade route. As a reminder, streets along the parade route will close at 8:15 am, the pancake breakfast runs from 8:30 to 10, pre-parade entertainment is scheduled from 9 to 10, the dragster fires up at 10, and the parade should be underway around the same time.

  • Blue Areas: Spectator Parking
  • Red Areas: No Spectator Parking
  • Yellow Areas: Spectator Parking Limited - exit permitted ASAP