Jopo and Jopette in Winter Carnival Parade (Photo credit: Wayne Emde/Vernon Winter Carnival Society)

By Pete McIntyre

Carnival of games

Carnival parade will result in road closures and transit changes

Jan 31, 2024 | 7:00 AM

The 64th annual Vernon Winter Carnival is just around the corner, and the biggest event of the ten day festival will be held this Saturday (Feb. 3)

Thousands of people are expected to attend the Carnival parade which will feature dozens of floats and entries, many focused on this year’s Games theme.

The Carnival parade begins at 12:00 p.m. at 43rd Avenue by Seaton Secondary and travels southbound on 27th Street to the courthouse, then westbound on 30th Avenue.

It then goes northbound on 29th Street (past the train station), westbound on 32nd Avenue (past the Civic Plaza and Museum), northbound on 31st Street, eastbound on 39th Avenue for one block, then northbound on 29th Street where it will end at the double roundabouts.

There will be several road closures in effect on that day.

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The parade route and staging areas will be closed to all traffic from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Drivers are encouraged to use Highway 97 (32nd Street) for north-south travel or use alternate routes if travelling downtown.

The staging area for the parade is 27th Street, between 39th Avenue and 43rd Avenue, as well as surrounding side streets.

Staff will be located at the intersection of 35th Avenue and 31st Street to let emergency vehicles cross.

The parade route will maintain public access to the downtown transit exchange and minimize disruptions to public transit service.

The map below shows the parade route.

Winter Carnival parade route 2024 (submitted image)

Due to road closures around the downtown, Vernon Regional Transit routes 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 60 will be temporarily affected and re-routed.

All transit information and route updates are available on BC Transit’s website. Click on alerts to see the changes.

For more information about Vernon Winter Carnival, visit vernonwintercarnival.com.