'It's so much fun': Thousands take part in Calgary's annual Easter egg hunt

Calgarians will be taking advantage of the weekend's sunny weather by hitting the streets to celebrate the Easter weekend.

“We've been blessed with sunshine, which always gives everyone a little bit of hope,” said Mark Williams, lead pastor at Beddington Pentecostal Church (BP).

“We're excited to (host the event) in the community and let them know there are better days ahead, shake off some of the past and step into a brighter future.”

BP Church's annual Easter Egg Hunt saw about 3,000 people on Saturday.

“It's very exciting,” Williams said. “You never know when someone is going to come, but our community was ready to do something, that much is clear.”

From getting city permits to ordering candy and chocolate, months of preparation go into an event of this magnitude.

“We filled 35,000 eggs with chocolate, so there are a lot of volunteers to do that,” she said. “Then there are several hundred volunteers to put everything together, from setting up the venue and organizing the day.”

Williams said the annual event has changed in recent years due to the pandemic, but she's excited to have it together again.

“The last few years have been difficult for a lot of people,” he said.

Elsewhere in the city, the Calgary Zoo hosts its annual Easter Egg Hunt. This event has its own virtual egg hunt, lawn games and other educational activities.

It runs until April 18 and is included with park admission.

While many Albertans are celebrating outdoors, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deanna Hinshaw is warning those taking their action indoors to be careful.

“What I'm suggesting is to consider who people are congregating with and what precautions are appropriate for those people,” Dr. Hinshaw said. “It is very important that anyone who feels ill and is unable to attend a meeting should consider using rapid testing and holding part of the meeting outdoors if the weather is favorable that day.”

While acknowledging the importance of celebrating with friends and family, he says it's important to reduce the risk of COVID-19.

“We've definitely seen an increase in submissions,” he said. “We also saw our positivity rates drop quite a bit last week. I think again the size of this rise, how long it will last, those are questions we don't know the answers to yet.”

In Wednesday's update, Alberta recorded 6,181 new cases in the past seven days.

There are 1,053 Albertans in hospital, 48 in intensive care. More than 4,100 Albertans have died from COVID-19.

These figures are current as of the end of April 11. The province updates case numbers every Wednesday.