St. John's Christmas parade, market cancelled as new COVID-19 cases spike

A glimmer of good cheer on the horizon has been snuffed out due to a steady rise in recent COVID-19 cases, with St. John's seeing two holiday hallmarks cancelled in the same afternoon.

Much like the Grinch stole Christmas in a single night, two decisions Monday afternoon have effectively shut down both the city's modified annual Santa Claus parade and a new downtown holiday market that had been greenlighted by council just two weeks ago.

Although downtown shops and restaurants remain open for business, Mayor Danny Breen said the cancellations come from following the provincial government's lead in stepping away from the Atlantic bubble for two weeks.

"In my opinion we are in the second wave here, and we felt that it was in the best interests for the safety of all the residents that we not proceed with the Christmas market at this time," Breen told reporters on Monday.

"We were concerned of moving forward when there was certainly a big concern around where we'd in the pandemic by that time."

Council voted 9-2 to cancel the event, which planned to close sections of Water St. for pedestrian-only access.

It had earlier approved closures of Water St., from Adelaide St. to Prescott St. on Dec. 5-6 and Dec. 12-13 to accommodate the holiday market.

Plans included playing holiday music on loudspeakers, with mummers roaming about, but council didn't approve patios or food sales outdoors.

Breen said even with the event being outdoors, city officials expected it to draw large numbers and it's not in the best interest of the city given the growing concern from the spike in COVID-19 cases in the province.

"I think if the road is closed we're going to attract more people down there and we'd be creating a congregation," he said. 

"I think people will still go down there, but they'll go down their on their own schedule during the week." 

Coun. Maggie Burton voted against the cancellation, telling CBC in a statement that she felt the decision was premature given the province hasn't changed its alert level.

"We do not have evidence of community spread in St. John's at this time. Shopping outdoors is safer than shopping indoors, and masks and other safety protocol could have been implemented for an additional level of comfort," she said.

Coun. Ian Froude also voted against the cancellation. Froude turned down a request to speak with CBC News, but did offer a statement. 

"The reason I opposed cancelling is that the market is primarily an outdoor event, which provides space for people to be physically distant while shopping. People are going to go shopping in any case, the event allowed the space to do so," he said. 

Santa skipping town

Meanwhile, plans for this year's indoor, highly modified Santa Claus parade at Mile One Centre have also sputtered to an end.

The Downtown St. John's organization, which organizes the annual parade, said in a release that it couldn't foresee the sudden appearance of three separate COVID-19 clusters in the province.

The two-day event, which would have begun Nov. 28, had planned a one-way walking loop around Mile One, with viewing stations rather than moving floats.

While you won't be able to catch a glimpse of Santa near Jellybean Row, as of Monday afternoon, he's still making his annual appearance at the Avalon Mall.

"It's difficult because when we did this we were in a different place. But, the pandemic situation is different now," Breen said. "We felt this was the best decision to make, keeping the safety of the public in mind."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador