People lined up along 27th Street to watch the Vernon Winter Carnival Parade (Image Credit: Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

66th Vernon Winter Carnival

Warmer weather helped draw record crowds out to Vernon Winter Carnival  

Feb 17, 2026 | 1:03 PM

Vernon’s annual winter celebrations saw record turnouts to some key events, thanks in part to unseasonably warm weather.

The lead organizer of the 66th annual Vernon Winter Carnival said there were large crowds for many events this year.

“We had quite a few events sell out, and we saw record numbers for a few events including the Balloon Glow and Family Fun Park with the fireworks,” Vicki Proulx, Chair of the Vernon Winter Carnival Society, told Vernon Matters.

“The warm weather did not hurt at all. I think that anytime we have a Winter Carnival where there doesn’t feel like much winter weather we definitely see more crowds coming out. We saw thousands of people out for the parade, well over 3,000 people for Balloon Glow, and lots of people and lots of families out for Family Fun Park and the fireworks. We also saw the most people we’ve ever had registered for the One Mile Run that happened right before the parade.”

Balloon Glow was held at the Village Green Shopping Mall parking lot due to the ongoing construction of the Active Living Centre, and the Family Fun Park was held at Kal Beach. Proulx added the change in venues also helped draw more people out to these events as they could accommodate larger crowds, noting specifically that the mall was “a fantastic venue” for the Balloon Glow as there was ample parking and lots of space, and that the Family Fun Park was able to be tied into the fireworks show. She said the organizers would have to meet for a debriefing but could consider those location be used again for the events in the future.

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The warmer weather did have some impacts on the celebrations though, as the now/ice sculpture contest was not planned and the snow-pitch event had to be cancelled. However, that was not a major concern for the organizers.

“This is obviously a challenge that we’ve faced for many years. When you hold a festival in the middle of winter, you really don’t know what you’re going to get most of the time,” Proulx said.

“Unfortunately, in the last few years we’ve really tried to moving away from hosting events that depend on snow, because we’ve had to cancel them in the past few years quite a bit. But the weather was great this year, so just with that preplanning and trying not to focus so much on those snow-themed events, I think we were all very appreciative of a little bit of warmer weather and the sunshine.”

The lead organizer added there were few challenges that were easily overcome this year, noting the increased costs of putting on these events will remain at the forefront of the society’s mind as it looks ahead to the 67th Winter Carnival.

“I think something that’s going into our planning is ‘how can we plan events that help pay for the free family events that we love to host, but still costs us a lot of money?'” Proulx explained.

“As a non-profit we’re always so grateful for people that come out and support and donate back into the festival. Really that support from the community is what we depend on to keep this going.”

The 66th Winter Carnival theme was Team Carnival: Canada Goes for Gold, which Proulx said she believed was well received by the public.