Mayor Colin Basran announces ‘Tragically Hip Day’ for Kelowna

Mayor Colin Basran has proclaimed a day in August as “Tragically Hip Day” for Kelowna.

“I just think that the Tragically Hip are Canadian music icons and I know there are a lot of Hip fans in Kelowna. These proclamations can be fun,” Basran told KelownaNow.

In an Instagram post, the mayor of Kelowna said that Aug. 20, will be known as Tragically Hip Day in the city. That is the day of the Canadian band’s final concert.

Gord Downie, the 52-year-old lead singer, announced at the end of May doctors had diagnosed him with terminal cancer in December.

“Since then, obviously, he’s endured a lot of difficult times, and he has been fighting hard,” they wrote in an official statement. “In privacy along with his family, and through all of this, we've been standing by him.”

The next day, on May 25, they announced tour dates, proving that sad news wouldn’t stop the band from doing what they do best.

The final concert will be broadcast live across the country, however, it's not been decided if it will include Kelowna.

Kelowna people were ecstatic with the news that Kelowna would be honouring the band. Several people commented on Basran’s post saying they hope a public showing of the concert will come to the city.

Basran said he knows some places in Kelowna will broadcast the show and he did say the city has talked about it, but no decisions have been made at this point.

In the official proclamation by the City of Kelowna and in partnership with Power 104, the city said The Tragically Hip “has been the soundtrack to the lives of people from Kelowna, the Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada and the world for over thirty years.”

When talking to KelownaNow, Basran said he's a true Tragically Hip fan and has seen them more than 10 times.

“He is the star of the show. I don’t think we’ll ever see somebody like him again.”

Basran said, at this point in time, his favourite Tragically Hip song is Nautical Disaster.