Bedford Days looking slightly different this summer

Like all events involving public gatherings, this year’s Bedford Days is seeing a distinct transformation due to COVID-19.

The annual event that celebrates the community of Bedford through an assortment of fun, family-friendly activities will combine both online and scaled-down commemorations, several of which will run well into August — much later than the previous four-day long summer event.

“We’ve been meeting since last fall and definitely into the new year in earnest and it has been challenging,” says Mike Gillet, HRM’s senior civic events coordinator about planning Bedford Days. “Typically we would have say, a band on stage and we might have hundreds or thousands of people to see them ahead of a fireworks display but we can’t do that this year because of COVID.”

Instead, the Bedford Days Working Group and HRM Civic Events had to plan fluidly as public health measures fluctuated in anticipation of the summer. In the end, Bedford Days was turned into a hybrid event that would be stretched out throughout July and August.

“We thought we would create an attraction like the photo display in DeWolf Park and then people can go to it on their own time, in their own bubbles, COVID-safe and social distance and all that,” explains Gillet. “There’s no rush to go for 10 o’clock on a certain evening to see a fireworks show because that’s not what the program is like this year.”

Among the 2021 Bedford Days events will be the aforementioned DeWolf Park Photo Art Display, which will be an expansive exhibition located in the area of Convoy Quay along the walking path in the popular park overlooking the Bedford Basin.  The artwork will celebrate the community through a variety of photos taken by local residents.

As well, Sunnyside Mall will host a Bedford Days Projection Show, an inventive five to six-minute video display in a vacant retail location that will run continuously on a loop during shopping mall hours.

“It starts with an Indigenous scene with a drummer and a dancer and then goes into some photos we were able to obtain of events from both Bedford and HRM area,” says Gillet, who adds the presentation progresses from past through to modern-day Bedford and will be a sort of fascinating three-dimensional visual art piece projected across three walls. “We are anticipating that the experience will be kind of unique and enjoyable.”

This year’s Bedford Days will also feature Streetside Banners, an intriguing banner collection that will be showcased along several street lamp posts near DeWolf Park.

In addition, several restaurants have been participating in Bedford Eats, where diners can enjoy a free sample and vote ahead of July 4 on which eatery they feel has earned the first-ever Bedford Days Golden Spatula award.

Other notable events include a pair of pop-up drive-in movies, courtesy of Pop Up Cinema as well as several pre-recorded videos of entertainment that will be featured on the Bedford Days Facebook page in the upcoming weeks.

“I think we came up with some wonderful offerings,” says Gillet of this year’s event. “The planning was difficult because the rules of engagement for the province had changed from time to time and understandably so but I think in the end, we came up with a wonderful menu of things for people and hopefully next year, we’ll be back to normal Bedford Days.”

For more information on Bedford Days, visit the website.