Canada Day celebrations on Sunday July 1, 2012 will be happening at the Millenium Park in Cloverdale. The park is located on the southeast corner of 64th Avenue and 176th Street.
Admission is free. Park never closes but most people start arriving between 9am and 11am to stake out a spot for the day. All day entertainment. Acts on the stage and some midway rides. Fireworks at 10:15pm end the day.
For more information and a line up of the entertainment see their website: http://www.surrey.ca/canadaday/
As for parking, if you get there early enough you will find parking off 62nd Avenue and 176th Street where the Agriplex is located. The parking lot at the fairgrounds, enter off 60th Avenue, also has parking. A lot of people park on the nearby streets but its not conveniently accessible. If you plan to do that get onto 172nd Street off 60th or 64th avenues and then choose any of the roads leading east from there. There is a park located on 62nd Avenue I think and there's a good sized parking lot there.
Whatever you do, don't park in the lot at the Cloverdale Crossing Mall across the street from the Millenium Park. There's a Tim Hortons in there, a London Drugs, a PriceSmart, etc. They put up big signs at the entrances saying customer parking only, no event parking. There are several security guards patrolling the lot. If you park your car here they watch where you're going. If you cross the street into the Millenium Park your car will probably be towed.
Want to just watch the fireworks? A good spot is the football field at Lord Tweedsmuir located on 180th Street, just north of 60th Avenue. Get there by 9pm and you should find a parking spot OK. Watch out for mosquitoes. Another good spot to watch is in the parking lot at the Cloverdale Super Market - the old Shop Easy - on the corner of 58th Avenue and 176th Street. The store is closed by then and this just has a nice view of the fireworks.
Getting out of Cloverdale after the fireworks? This is nightmare city for drivers, including cars travelling on 176th Street who have no intention of participating in the Canada Day activities. The police close down 176th Street between 60th and 64th Avenues. Open for pedestrians only. However last year they had to rethink that strategy. The corner of 60th Avenue and 176th Street can be dangerous for pedestrians even though it has pedestrian activated light and a chirper noisemaker. There's a lot of bad drivers who don't want to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and multiply that when there are hundreds of pedestrians leaving a major event. So last year the police made a last minute decision to put in another blockade 2 blocks away at 58th Avenue and the Cloverdale Bypass. The problem is there were no instructions so drivers unfamiliar with the area turned up towards the United Church and then going through the back alley to 60th Avenue only to find themselves no better off because the only option was to turn east down 60th right back to where the police had it blocked off and they had to turn south back down the Cloverdale Bypass. So they did the circle route. The police also had 60th Avenue closed off between 176A Street and 176th Street so cars could not reach the intersection at all. To get out of Cloverdale if you're closer to 64th Avenue, go that way either direction on 64th or continue north on 176th Street. If you're parked in the fairgrounds/casino lot, either head east on 60th and away from Cloverdale, or go down 176th Street to Highway 10 and whichever way you want to leave. Avoid residential areas that are unknown to you. They are choked with lost drivers.
Happy Canada Day!
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