The annual Seniors’ Picnic in Kamloops – which was due to be held this Friday, July 12, has been postponed by two months because of the ongoing heat wave.

Community and Culture Coordinator Chelsea Tekonomy says the decision to postpone the event – which is meant for people over the age of 55 – was done to keep seniors and others safe, as temperatures are expected to be well above seasonal.

“We know being in the basking sun for a picnic in this kind of weather wouldn’t be safe for our groups coming, so we made the tough decision to reschedule the event for Sept, 6,” Tekonomy said. “It is due to some major events that we have going on throughout the summer and finding a day that worked with some of our partners as well as when the park is free.”

“We’re also hoping that by September 6 we can have gotten out of heat. Typically that’s when we’re seeing less smoke as well.”

Tekonomy says people will need to register for the free event once again. They can do so by calling 250-828-3500 or online here.

The rescheduled picnic is still set to be held between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the east end of Riverside Park downtown.

The Kamloops Rube Band and Jeremy Kneeshaw are expected to be the musical entertainment during the event, which will also feature a picnic-style lunch served by the Kamloops Paddlewheelers Lions Club.

The City also says there will be a wide range of activities for people with all levels of mobility and interests. That includes gentle fitness exercises to chair Zumba, lawn games, and a photo booth.

“In a perfect world, it will be our same performers and we’re hoping just to move everyone we had booked over to the 6th, but we do know some people’s schedules might be changing, so we’ll make adjustments as needed,” Tekonomy said. We’re going to do our best to move everyone and everything over to the new date.”

While the event is held every July, Tekonomy told Radio NL the City of Kamloops is currently considering moving it to the late summer or early fall, in a bid to avoid postponements like this in future years.

“It is something we’re discussing as a team with our event organizers to see what we can do so that we don’t run into this problem again,” she said.

For more details on the event, go here.