Black Gold Fest in Oil Springs among cancellations

The Independent

If you’re heading out to an event this weekend, you might want to check to see if it is still on. A number of events have been cancelled for the weekend because of poor air quality in Lambton from wildfire smoke.

In Petrolia, town officials have cancelled the Saturday morning Farmers’ Market, the Saturday in the Park music event at Victoria Park and also announced the Petrolia Ministerial’s outdoor evening service Sunday at the Rotary Band shell has also been cancelled.

All of the municipality’s splash pad and sports fields are also cancelled.

A number of events have also been cancelled. The Oil Museum of Canada in Oil Springs has cancelled the Black Gold Fest scheduled for Saturday.

“The safety of our patrons, community partners, volunteers, and staff is our top priority,” said Andrew Meyer, General Manager of Cultural Services with the County of Lambton. “While we are disappointed to cancel this year’s event, we believe this is the responsible course of action based on current air quality conditions and public health recommendations and we look forward to welcoming everyone back next year.”

The Bluewater Rotary Club has cancelled its annual Mackinac Pancake Breakfast under the Bluewater Bridge because of poor air quality.

The Justin Bourassa Memorial Tennis Tournament has been delaying and postponing games – Friday morning officials said matches won’t start until at least 1:30 pm, if they do go ahead.

Lambton College says the air quality was one of the considerations for cancelling Friday’s FireFit Corporate Challenge.

At this time, the rest of the Western Ontario FireFit Regionals will take place as scheduled on Saturday July 18 and Sunday, July 19, from 10 am to 4 pm.

A number of municipal fire departments have a open fire ban in effect including Petrolia and Plympton-Wyoming. In Petrolia, officials said the temporary fire ban has been implemented to help reduce smoke and protect the health and safety of residents during the current air quality event.

The Petrolia ban is expected to remain in effect until noon Monday, at which time it is anticipated to be lifted, subject to air quality conditions.