You can soon drink booze in select Calgary parks

Good news, YYC. Beginning in June, you’ll be able to legally drink alcohol at designated parks across Calgary.

Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra first mentioned that he planned to bring forth a Notice of Motion for a pilot project allowing alcohol consumption in parks in a tweet that went viral in the city on April 9.

The Ward 9 councillor told Daily Hive that he hopes that a pilot of this nature would encourage Calgarians to not only use regional parks, which can get crowded, but to keep people in lesser-used green spaces to spread the love of our outdoor areas.

I actually have a Notice of Motion coming forward to pilot open consumption in parks as a Covid response. If #yyccc approves we’ll treat picnic tables like this winter’s bookable fire pits as a start for this season. https://t.co/RMiIfSJcOG

— Gian-Carlo Carra (@gccarra) April 10, 2021

The Motion of Notice went in front of Calgary’s Priorities and Finance Committee on April 27, and Councillor Carra then brought the Motion forward at the May 10 city council meeting.

The city council voted 12 to two in favour of the proposal on Monday. The pilot project allowing those of legal age to consume an adult beverage or two at select Calgary parks will begin this summer, while respecting current COVID-19 protocols.

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From June 1 to September 7, Calgarians will be permitted to drink alcohol at designated picnic sites at parks across the city. The results of the pilot will be presented by November 2021.

A similar project was proposed before the pandemic but was set aside as more pressing matters were dealt with. Councillor Carra says that he hopes this gives Calgarians a safe, appealing option amidst the current public health restrictions.

“We want to drive people outside, and have the minimum number of people breaking COVID-19 protocols with indoor gatherings.”

Calgarians will be able to reserve the picnic sites online, similar to the bookable firepit program that the city ran through the winter months. The City of Calgary has yet to announce which parks the pilot will run at.