The Concert Hall at Victoria Hall, the Firehall Theatre and the United Church as an entertainment venue, are all still closed so you could be excused for thinking that there is no organized entertainment in Cobourg – but you would be wrong. The Loft is open, Rainbow Cinema at the Mall is operating, there are several outdoor events and some organizations have innovative activities to keep you entertained. Some events are scheduled for the Fall and plan to use current Covid-19 protocols although these may be relaxed by then – let’s hope so. There is a web site that provides local Entertainment Information (Cobourg Calendar) and it has a page listing venues that are operating despite Covid-19 – and the list is growing. Here is a summary with links for more info plus some brief comments:
Entertainment Events
Updated from 17 July article
Ongoing
- Cobourg Loft Cinema – Full Program – occupancy at 50%
- Port Hope Drive-in – on Theatre Road
- Rainbow Cinemas – Full Program – occupancy at 50%
- Warriors Axe Throwing – commercial with a mobile unit available *
- Cobourg Library – open with some limitations
- Art Gallery of Northumberland – now open *
- Sifton-Cook Museum – open on Fridays and Weekends.
Special Events – limited schedule
- Northumberland Players – Pop-up Theatre – outdoors – 4 shows through September
- Highland Games Pop-Up Patio & Ceilidhs – first event was in July – next one is August 12 to 15.
- Cobourg Police Service’s Bike Rodeo – Police bicycle safety event August 14 *
- Northumberland Rocks – Live Rock concert in Lions Parking Lot – August 20 *
- Film Access Northumberland (FAN) – outdoor show August 29 plus event at the Loft
- Vintage Film Festival September 2021 – Dressler film event in September at the Capitol *
- Classical Concerts at the Loft – three events – September 26, October 31 and December 19 *
- ABBAMANIA – at Drive in – Live Abba Tribute band – October 3 *
* New since 17 July
Sports venues are planning to open too – the Cougars on October 1st. You can get a list of club web sites here – many will have news on re-opening.
Note that the Marie Dressler Museum will not be opening until late September due to ongoing work on an extensive expansion/ renovation. (Marie Dressler Museum Expansion Project on Track – 21 July 2020)
Of course you can have your own social events too. The other day, I was in a group of about a dozen who formed a circle sitting on lawn chairs in Victoria Park. Other than someone you lived with, we were 6 feet apart.
When we moved into Step 3, we were told it would be a minimum of 21 days before there was a further relaxation of rules. That date was August 6 but there’s no word yet on relaxing of restrictions. However, entertainers are finding they can put on shows respecting current limits (details of limits here) – so that’s good.
Print Article:
Whether 0, 1 or 2 vaccine(s) it is the Organizers of the Entertainment Events that are required to make the financial and logistical concessions and for that I wish them a tremendous amount of success with their comeback season.
The Cobourg folks that really want to return to supporting Cobourg arts and entertainment want to know when vaccine passports will be available Federally or in Ontario. As they are in Quebec and Manitoba. Then local venues can require attendees’ proof of vaccination. Many arts’ supporters don’t want to mix with anti-vaxxers in close quarters. A bit of a no brainer.
If required, we have our proofs of vaccinations in the form of the issued receipts.
Those who are unvaccinated pose no immediate risk to the vaccinated and deserve the same rights and freedoms as everyone else – why would you think it is any of your business? The vaccine passport is likely just another mechanism to motivate those who are hesitant and may have unexpected consequences for those on either side of the leger.
People should get vaccinated and otherwise mind their own business.
Public opinion is swinging in the favour of limiting what unvaccinated citizens can do. Page 1 of today’s Globe has the article “Quebec to bar unvaccinated people from non-essential places”. Per the article that means places like bars, restaurants and gyms will only be open to those with Quebec’s new passport app, as of Sept. 1. Including visitors from other provinces and countries. Quebec always has the guts to take the lead on controversial political subjects. Today’s editorial section in the Globe has an article entitled “Vaccine passports could win Trudeau a majority”. Since the vast majority of adults are vaccinated and are voters, whichever party first supports a vaccine passport could be a shoe in a fall election. The pandemic is everybody’s business. Time for Doug and Justin to stand up and support the majority.
75 years ago, during the Nuremburg trials, judges asked Hermann Goring how they made Germany accept all the madness. He replied, “The only thing a government needs to turn people into slaves, is FEAR. If you can find something to make them afraid, you can make them do whatever you want.”
Old Sailor:
If I understand you correctly, your concern is that the vaccine may (does) not provide the level of protection (immunity) that the Health officials and Gov’t have promised. If you have confidence in the “vaccine promise” why the concern?
There is also the implied (explicit?) fear that all non-vaxxers are walking virus factories and any association with them will surely result in your demise, notwithstanding the promised immunity for the vaccinated.