An afternoon of family-friendly entertainment will pop up in Drake Landing this weekend.
Music, magic and zumba are on the list of activities for Okotoks’ second annual Pop Up in the Park event Aug. 19 in the Drake Landing soccer fields from noon to 3 p.m.
“It’s going to be a really great family day in the park,” said Allan Boss, Okotoks culture and heritage manager. “It’s just one more thing to do in Okotoks.”
The line-up of entertainment includes performances by young musicians Maria Zimmerman and Michela Sheedy, a magic show, the return of this summer’s production of The Princess and the Pea by Goodger-Pink Family Theatre and an opportunity to try zumba, led by local instructor Tamara Boivin.
The event will also include a variety of booths featuring social, wellness and other community organizations and three food trucks, said Boss.
“It will be a really fun afternoon for families to come and hang out in the park and enjoy some magic and some music and move their bodies,” he said.
Pop Up in the Park began in Okotoks last summer in Cimarron with musical performances, a play by Goodger-Pink, various booths and a food truck.
“Any one time there might have been between 200 to 300 people on site,” Boss said. “We were very happy with how it turned out so we thought let’s keep building on that and stay with the same formula for now.”
Boss said he would like to see Pop Up in the Park grow with more food trucks and a larger variety of entertainment each year.
“The idea is to try and have this event move around from year to year at different locations so different neighbourhoods in Okotoks can experience what this event is like,” he said.
“We want to try and create events and programs in locations outside of downtown.”
Earlier this year, Boss invited the public to post pictures of themselves in a park they wanted Pop Up in the Park hosted in and to write why it should be held there. Boss said he received only a couple submissions.
“We didn’t get a lot of participation in that,” he said. “It’s a good premise, but people are busy and finding the time to do all of that is difficult.”
Next year, Boss plans to post photographs of various parks in Okotoks and have the public vote. The park receiving the most votes will be selected to host the event, he said.
Boss is also open to ideas from the public on how to make Pop Up in the Park even more successful.
