Mother Nature was not kind to Canada 150 festivities.

The Town of Cochrane in partnership with Cochrane Area Events Society put on an amazing show Saturday (July 1) despite rain, wind, and lightning.

Tracy Brooker, Manager of Recreation, Culture & the Arts for Town of Cochrane, says it was great to see the community rally together. "I was really grateful to see how much the community came together. Everyone taking care of one another, sharing their umbrellas, there was people in the front who hadn't left the entire time."

Brooker, states while there were many highlights to the day she loved the multicultural feel to the day. "We brought in some multicultural components to the event which was the native teepee from a family out of Morley, and then we had a multicultural area down by the kid-zone which was contributions from Cochrane Immigrant Services Commitee so those were new this year,  some nice new features we wanted to highlight showing Canada's special diversity and ethnicity."

Thanks to additional funds, this was the first year a full day of activity was scheduled with the event running right up until 11pm. While extending the event was well received, Brooker, can't guarantee they will do it this way year after year. "We will see, we will determine what the desire will be for council. This year was a 7 hour festival which was long, and we'll probably take that back next year and not be as long because of the cost factor and the amount of volunteers you need."

Brooker gave a big shut out to both Cochrane Fire Services and Cochrane Search and Rescue for their support in making sure attendees were safe and looked after while  the storms passed by, as well as the countless volunteers helping on the grounds and driving shuttles to and from.