HRM did the best it could to let people know fireworks were cancelled: spokesperson
Posted Jul 2, 2013 11:43:38 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The cancelled Canada Day fireworks in Halifax have been rescheduled for this Friday.
HRM spokesperson Tiffany Chase says last nights fog and clouds created poor visibility, so they reached out to everyone as best they could to say the fireworks were cancelled.
“By 8 p.m. we put out information using local media, our website, social media and the 311 special events hot line,” said Chase. “Those were all used two hours before the fireworks.”
Despite that, many people still waited for hours at the Halifax waterfront for them to start. There were no HRM staff members on the Halifax side telling people on the ground they were called off, but they were notifying people in Dartmouth.
“The reason we had staff in Dartmouth was because of the concert at Alderney Landing,” adds Chase. “They could travel up and down the waterfront area. It’s also a smaller area on the Dartmouth side. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough staff to have on the Halifax side as well.”
There were a number of posts on Twitter indicating that people were downtown waiting for the show to start: “Sad to see so many families downtown who don’t have twitter and didn’t know the fireworks were cancelled. Thanks for the short notice,” tweeted one man.
Another Tweeter complained “Communication doesn’t seem to be one of Halifax’s strong points.”
If the weather is crummy on Friday, Saturday is the second rain date, and if both days are bad, the fireworks will be saved for next year.
