Living Skies Come Alive fireworks competition is back
Fireworks, bands, food trucks, market planned for August long weekend 2025
November 25, 2024, 5:20 pm
Nicole Taylor
The Living Skies Come Alive fireworks competition at Moosomin Regional Park is back after five years.
Organizers are planning for fireworks shows on Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3. There will also be bands both nights, food trucks, and a market that weekend, as well as kids activities.
For years, the Living Skies Come Alive fireworks competition attracted thousands of spectators to Moosomin Regional Park each August long weekend until it was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, followed by smaller shows and other events on the August long weekend instead of fireworks.
Kyle Jeannot, with the Moosomin Regional Park board, said the decision was made last week to bring the competition back.
“We had a plan to eventually bring back the fireworks, but we made the final decision at the meeting last Tuesday night that it was time,” he said. “A lot of people missed the event. People would plan for it every year, and they were disappointed when it wasn’t there. We are going to start planning further ahead, get some volunteers lined up, and get it done.”
Jeannot said the 2025 competition will be similar to previous year’s Living Skies Come Alive events, featuring food trucks, fireworks, vendors, kids activities and more. “I think it will be as big as previous year’s competitions,” said Jeannot.
Archangel Fireworks inc, a company based out of Winnipeg, will be one of the competitors.
Jeannot explained how once pandemic restrictions had cancelled the annual event in 2020, it became more difficult to get the ball rolling again.
“I think it came down to volunteers. I didn’t get on the park board myself until last March, and when I got on the board I found out it wasn’t happening. I know it’s a huge fundraiser and we definitely noticed it made a difference to the park not doing it.”
Jeannot said he knows a lot of people will be excited to hear that the big firework competition is back this year.
“I think the reaction will be positive. We have seen so many people drive from hours away only to be disappointed when they arrived and heard that the competition was not happening in previous years.”
Jeannot says that their goal is to have at least 3,000 to 4,000 people each night come to watch the competition.
“We want to sell as many tickets as we can. The profits go back into the park upgrades. This past year we did a bunch of updates to the store. We put all new fridges and freezers in the kitchen and re-insulated and heated the back room for storage during the winter.
“We would like to upgrade the marina eventually, and we are looking at expanding the water treatment plant as well. We need another holding tank, we are going through so much water because there’s more people out there, so that’s the game plan.”
Jeannot says that people can show their community support by buying tickets, coming and spending the day at the lake, camping there for the weekend, and spreading the word.
“I feel like if people think about it now, they’ll start booking their holidays around the August long weekend.”
The lake board is also seeking sponsorships for the event.
“The board is going to go back to when we had sponsorships for this event. I think we are going to reach out and start doing that again and get some corporate advertising and support,” said Jeannot.
Jeannot played a part in organizing last year’s smaller firework show, but this years will be much larger scale. Jeannot said there’s a whole team behind this event making it happen.
“I helped with the one last year and it went pretty smooth, there’s lots of good people on the board that have done it for years so they have the experience. Everyone is willing to help and get it done,” said Jeannot. “Layne McFarlane, Rob Hanson, Garry Bonkowski, and Karen Hebert are on the entertainment committee, and we also are planning to reach out to more volunteers and recruit a few other people we know are interested in helping out.”
Jeannot has also discussed the possibility of hosting a ball tournament that weekend.
Jeannot says that the demand for the competition played a big role in bringing it back this year.
“People keep asking for it, and we want to do these upgrades at the lake store, we need to fundraise somehow. Little fundraising events are good but it’s hard to find volunteers to do something every single weekend, then people are burnt out. So if we can put on one big event, and then maybe a couple smaller events this summer, we are going do that,” said Jeannot.
“The impact is huge on the community, you get people staying in the hotels, and coming into town to eat. I think it helps out the community big time.”
Jeannot and the Moosomin Regional Park Board are eager to start organizing the next Living Skies Come Alive firework competition.
“We’ve got to get it back, and if we don’t, we are going to lose it and someone else is going to capitalize on the fundraiser. It’s good for the community and the lake,” said Jeannot.
Jeannot also says that Moosomin Regional Park is hosting its Winter Wonderland event in February.
“We are doing the Winter Wonderland this February, which will have an ice fishing derby, sleigh rides, and more fun stuff like that. Right now it’s tentatively booked for February 2.”
