The 1998 Surrey White Rock Hydrangea Blossom Festival Cancelled Due to Red Tape

"She was a little shocked two weeks ago when she sat down before the city's special-events committee to be told by chairwoman Council Judy Higginbotham that her permit had been denied."

August 5, 1998

On this day, The Province out of Vancouver, British Columbia, shared an article by Peter Clough that caught my attention.

The title was Hydrangea Fest Yanked by Roots and began with the sentence,

It’s a blooming shame.

Here are the highlights:

Saturday was supposed to be the inaugural Surrey White Rock Hydrangea Blossom Festival.

For organizer Elaine Cramer, it was going to be the realization of a dream she's had for 15 years to bring a world-class floral parade to the Lower Mainland.

Now it's not going to happen; not this year at least.

After months of planning, the parade has been canceled. [...]

Elaine is no novice when it comes to hydrangeas.

She actually studied them at university.

Her garden's home to several varieties.

[Elaine] says Surrey was equally enthusiastic. In fact, she says, it was Mayor Doug McCallum who convinced her that the best route through Surrey was 152nd Street.

So she was a little shocked two weeks ago when she sat down before the city's special-events committee to be told by chairwoman Council Judy Higginbotham that her permit had been denied.

She's been working with Surrey officials for more than a year and only now does she learn of the problem.

Elaine and her 30 volunteers plan to give away more than 10,000 hydrangea bushes between now and October with next year's parade in mind.

That's if she can get a permit.