By Gazette Staff
February 17th, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
Kim Ingram, Senior Manager of Cultural Services, Recreation, Community and Culture Department as come up with options for the community-driven parade that will take place the day before the Lakshore Music Festival.
The purpose of this memo is to provide Council with additional background and analysis following direction provided at the Committee of the Whole meeting on February 9, 2026: “Direct the Director of Recreation, Community and Culture to be available to support a community-driven parade at the same time as the Lakeshore Music & Arts Festival in 2026, to be funded from the Community Investment Reserve Fund.”
This memo summarizes the operational, policing, route, staffing, and financial considerations identified through further review and presents two options for Council’s consideration.
Background & Analysis
Following Council’s direction, staff reviewed historical parade routes, assessed logistics from previous festival years, and consulted with key partners—including the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS)—to identify parade formats that could be accommodated in June 2026. This review considered available dates, route conditions, infrastructure placement, and the resources required to safely integrate a parade into the Lakeshore Music & Arts Festival weekend.
Through this analysis, staff determined that a traditional Saturday morning street parade presents multiple challenges. HRPS has advised that policing resources on Saturday (and Sunday) are significantly constrained due to festival-related deployment, and the early installation of the Community Stage at Brant Street and James Street will block the Brant Street parade route.
As a result, staff developed two alternative approaches for Council’s consideration that remain aligned with operational, safety, and resource requirements.
The first option is a scaled down parade—a small march featuring the Burlington Teen Tour Band—delivered along the Promenade on Saturday morning. This approach avoids major road closures, requires minimal staffing and police involvement, and can be delivered with a modest budget.
Parade Route #1 Baldwin to Elgin. The red colour on Baldwin St is the parade staging area, the blue line is the proposal parade route, the red line on Elgin St is the parade dispersement area, the orange lines are the proposed location of the various activities per the proposal by the new For Profit festival organizers.
The second option is a traditional street parade held on Friday, June 19, 2026, at 7:00 p.m., using a Brant Street route from Baldwin to Elgin (refer to Appendix A). This option is supported by HRPS, aligns with available resources, avoids conflicts with Saturday festival infrastructure, and provides a more traditional parade experience for spectators and participants. The estimated cost of a Friday evening parade is approximately $50,000, including required road closures, signage, paid duty policing, event staffing, rentals, and performer support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this memo provides additional information on the feasible parade options for June 2026 while outlining the operational considerations associated with each. Staff will proceed as directed by Council and collaborate with partners to support the selected option.
Discover more from Burlington Gazette - Local News, Politics, Community
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I support option 1
With the mayor and council latest actions re taking on the development charge which will be in effect for more than two years than what is stated ..taxpayers will be groaning under this additional cost so we do not need more burden
The red colour on Baldwin St is the parade staging area, the blue line is the proposal parade route, the red line on Elgin St is the parade dispersement area, the orange lines are the proposed location of the various activities per the proposal by the new For Profit festival organizers.
Who Cares? Stop spending our hard earned property taxpayer dollars on things that no one cares about!!
If Mayor Meed Ward wants it, she should pay for it herself.
The first option using the Burlington Teen Tour Band would be well received and would not end up costing the city anything.
Let’s not forget that part of Brant Street, across from City Hall is not accessible because of construction.
Also at that time there are outdoor patios that take up sidewalks and parking spaces.
Anyone think to consult the TTBand?
Editor’s note: Give the people at City Hall some credit. Of course they are working with the TTB