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Photo courtesy City of Richmond
Festival safety key this summer
Published 12:03 PDT, Fri May 23, 2025
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As summer draw near, so does Richmond’s season for festivals and events.
Among others, the Steveston Salmon Festival, Maritime Festival, Garlic Festival at Terra Nova, and internationally-renowned Richmond Night Market all bring crowds to locations in our city. Inviting friends and families to enjoy these unique events is a ritual for many residents from Richmond and throughout the region.
Sadly, the recent Vancouver Lapu Lapu Day tragedy reminds us that excitement can quickly turn to pain and despair. In addition to the many lives that were lost that day, countless others were changed forever. All are prominent in our thoughts.
Richmond is one of the region’s safest cities thanks to City Council’s long-term investment in our RCMP, Fire-Rescue and emergency services. Over 40 per cent of the City’s operating budget supports community safety. This year, Council approved an additional six RCMP officers, taking the local complement to over 300 members and the largest in Canada after Surrey’s transition to a local force.
Public safety at large events has always been priority number one for the many staff and volunteers who address any issues and support their success. The Lapu Lapu tragedy reminds us that we need to avoid complacency as we prepare for the unexpected, as challenging as that may be. Richmond is taking additional steps to keep festival attendees even safer this season. For instance, we plan to increase the number of barricades and heavy-duty vehicles that are placed strategically to reduce access to pedestrian-only areas.
Despite what recently occurred, I encourage everyone to continue to enjoy the many public offerings in Richmond this summer. They are inevitably free, fun, outdoors and entertaining while they serve to strengthen our sense of community.
Richmond continues to mourn alongside our neighbours and the wider Filipino community over recent events. Many Richmond residents have been deeply touched by the tragedy. On behalf of Council and the City, I extend our condolences and deepest sympathies to everyone affected by the tragic incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and everyone impacted, including the first responders who acted with courage and compassion that day.
I urge anyone continuing to experience distress to reach out for help. The BC Mental Health Support Line (310-6789) or crisiscentre.bc.ca offers free, 24/7 confidential mental-health support. VictimLinkBC (call/text 1-800-563-0808 or email 211-VictimLinkBC@uwbc.ca) also offers 24/7 confidential information, referrals, and crisis support for victims of crime or violence.
Most of all, I encourage everyone to be strong and to continue to enjoy all that Richmond has to offer this Spring and Summer.
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