After 11 years, Paint the Town Red, now named the Hazel McCallion Canada Day Parade, the popular Canada Day celebration in Port Credit, has evolved from a quaint community parade into one of the best-attended Canada Day parades and celebrations in the country.
On July 1, at the intersection of Stavebank Road and Lakeshore Road on the east side of the Credit River, the Paint the Town Red Parade will become the first official Hazel McCallion Canada Day Parade. Beginning at 11:00 a.m. and rolling on to east Port Credit for an hour and a half, the red and white flags and dress will dazzle an estimated 40,000 residents and visitors with enthusiastic good cheer for their country and a heartfelt salute to the tremendous contribution of one small but mighty leader in McCallion.
The parade will travel nearly two kilometres and feature dozens of bands and entertainers on floats following antique cars, with smiling politicians and colourful cultural dancers carrying forward the spirit of Canada by marking publicly how lucky so many of them feel to be Canadian.
At the end of the parade, at Wenonah Drive in front of La Villa Bakery on Lakeshore Road, over 5,000 people are expected to enjoy a piece of the 10-by-20-foot cake, baked in 72 sections and put together overnight. It might be a vanilla cake with lemon filling with butter cream icing like last year, or the Mayor may choose a new flavour to serve guests. The parade kicks off a full day of musical performances, fun, food and fireworks.
“It has become a family destination with something for everyone,” says the event’s founder and La Villa baker Johnny Bozzo, “We know how to treat people in Port Credit. It’s welcoming and friendly.”
The whole community and beyond have embraced and supported this burgeoning tradition.
Visit paintthetownred.ca for the free concert schedule featuring live bands from 1:00 to 9:50 p.m., when the fabulous fireworks show begins.
about patriotism and
freedom, things that
we take for granted
and that are so hard
to come by in other
countries.”-Johnny Bozzo, owner of La Villa Bakery