Westerner Days Parade: the people behind the barricades
July 09, 2025
Before the sun rises on Westerner Days Parade, while most of Red Deer is still fast asleep, a small but mighty team is already at work.
For the City’s Sign Crew, Parade Day starts well before dawn. Just after 5 a.m., six field foremen gather at the yard to load up trucks with everything needed to keep thousands of parade-goers safe: barricades, saw horses, signs, and cones. Coffee in hand, they head out into the quiet streets to prepare for Red Deer’s annual celebration.
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of pressure,” says Jackson Jones, one of the team leaders coordinating the operation. “People don’t always see what goes into closing down a major part of the city safely. There’s so much happening at once – traffic still flowing, equipment to place, and timing everything just right.”
Their job is a delicate balancing act: closing roads early enough to keep parade participants and spectators safe, but not so early that it creates major disruptions for morning commuters. They work quickly, moving from block to block in coordinated fashion, setting out signage and barricades in the cool morning air.
And when those roads close, they’re closed for a reason.
“Once the parade route is closed – you shall not pass,” Jackson says with a smile.
“That’s the biggest help people can give us: plan ahead and respect the closures. Even if the parade is over where you are, floats move at different speeds and there can be unexpected delays. It would also be unsafe for people further down the parade route if barricades were removed and vehicles returned to the street. It’s for these reasons that the entire route stays closed until the Parade Marshal gives us the official ‘All Clear’.”
For the many Parks & Public Works crews on the ground, enforcing these closures can be one of the most stressful parts of the morning. Drivers in a hurry sometimes try to move barricades or argue their way through, not realizing the risk to parade-goers, volunteers, and other vehicles.
“Everyone wants to get where they’re going, and we understand that,” says Jackson. “But we just ask people to think about the magnitude of the event and the number of road closures needed. We’re out there doing our best to keep everyone safe, so please be patient and ultimately, choose to avoid the area altogether if possible.”
Another simple way to help is to avoid parking along the parade route if you need to leave quickly in the morning. Once streets are closed, vehicles parked there will not be able to exit until the parade has fully wrapped up and the barricades are removed.
For this team, seeing the streets lined with families, kids waving flags, and neighbours cheering together makes it all worth while.
When you see the barricades go up this Parade Day, take a moment to think of the crew behind them – working before dawn so the rest of us can gather, celebrate, and enjoy one of Red Deer’s most beloved traditions.