Virtual Canada Day Celebration!

Happy Canada Day from the Capitol Theatre stage—to your home!

This event is FREE and will take place on the Capitol Theatre YouTube channel! No ticket necessary! Access from your computer!

The Capitol Theatre and the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce have teamed up to provide the Nelson Community with a very special Cultural Canada Day 2020 celebration. The online streaming event brings together community spokespeople and talented performers in a tribute to our country and one another. The hour-long event can be viewed on the Capitol The- atre YouTube channel, Facebook and Instagram at 10 am on July 1st. A link to the FREE event will be posted on the Capitol Theatre website and social media on Canada Day!

Performers are Jonny Poutina (Les Dancing Legs), Pat Henman & Sydney Black (Black Pro- ductions), Petunia Rae (Circus Acts Insomniacs), Anne DeGrace, Diana Morita Cole, as well as a light show. Métis elder Donna Wright will perform and opening and closing drumming ceremony.

Speakers include Capitol Board Chair Claire Hallam, Arrow Lakes Cultural Facilitator for the Colville Confederated Tribes Shelly Boyd, and, as is the tradition, Mayor John Dooley will cut the cake.

This is a flagship event for the Capitol Theatre, and everyone involved is very excited to kick off this new innovation to provide a cultural Canada Day for everyone from the Capitol Theatre stage. Organizers Stephanie Fischer (Capitol Theatre) and Tom Thomson (Chamber of Com- merce) are delighted with the partnership.

“We wanted to create a unique event to celebrate Canada’s153rd Birthday,” says Fischer.

The safety of the public and current physical distancing directives means that the traditional Canada Day celebrations coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce at Lakeside Park in Nel- son will not take place. “The online option for this year’s celebration is a close as we can get to the real live event and experience,” says Fischer. “We hope people will enjoy it as much as we did putting it together, and really feel the celebration of our country, our community, and each other.”

Nelson’s cultural community hub, The Capitol Theatre, has been quiet these past two few months; live performances in front of an audience of 400 people is simply not possible due to current public health and safety measures. The theatre is working to develop alternate ways to deliver performance-based culture. This year’s fall Season Series will primarily feature local and regional professional and emerging artists performing for 50 patrons at a time with a livestream component allowing people to also watch online.

It’s one of many ways the Capitol Theatre is adapting to safely inspire and entertain.