Photo from the 2019 Horse and Buggy Parade in Vankleek Hill. This year’s event will take place online as a virtual event.
The 24th edition of Vankleek Hill’s Horse and Buggy Parade will last all week this year, although participants will be posting videos and photos on Facebook instead of being in the traditional one-day parade through town.
The event is being held online from July 1-5 on the Excellent Events Facebook page, with those taking part encouraged to post videos and photos of not just their horses and buggies, but also grooming tips, riding apparel and other items of interest to horse lovers. Organizers are disappointed the parade itself had to be cancelled, but are optimistic the online version will have the same success as the May Show Festival held online earlier this year.
“We had great success with the May Show Festival and we didn’t want to cancel the parade – it’s the 24th annual – so we are doing it online too,” commented Samme Putzel of Excellent Events. “Anyone who has horses or who has participated in the event before we are asking them to send to our Facebook Page pictures or videos of what they would be doing with their horses, their activities and we will put them online from July 1 until July 5.”
Those who wish to take part in the parade can either forward their items to Excellent Events, or choose to post the clip or pictures on their own Facebook page and send a link which organizers can share on the parade’s event page. Putzel also noted that those who wish to participate do not have to wait until July 1 to send in their video, photo or other contributions to the Horse and Buggy Parade:
“They can send anything anytime and then we will be putting the posts up on those days, culminating with the day the parade would have been held in town, which is July 5.”
While the event was only announced last week, there has been a great deal of interest expressed to organizers already by both past participants and those who enjoy viewing the parade.
“There have been a lot of people looking at the announcement and several who have said they will participate,” Putzel commented. “Last year we had 26 horse entries in the parade and we have five participants who have never missed a parade and we’ve heard from several who plan to take part this year. We have a very good following, so we’re just hoping they’ll just be sharing and tagging and all those good things.”
More information on the 2020 Vankleek Hill Horse and Buggy Parade and how to take part can be found on the Excellent Events Facebook page at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/excellenteventsVKH
