The 111th Grey Cup is set to take place in Vancouver this year, and the Canadian Football League's (CFL) Tour of B.C. stopped in Vernon Saturday, June 8 to raise excitement for the major sporting event.
The CFL's custom caravan stopped at Vernon's Civic Memorial Park June 8, after stopping in Sicamous Friday and Salmon Arm Thursday. On Sunday it will make its way to Kelowna before heading to Merritt on Monday.
"With Vancouver hosting the Grey Cup this year in November, we have the truck and we're going around the entire province so that we can get a little bit of interaction from everybody outside of Vancouver," said Nathan Smith, with the Tour of B.C.
Smith said the tour is about spreading the excitement of the Grey Cup to all corners of the province.
"Vancouver always gets such big events but everybody else in the province doesn't get to necessarily enjoy it."
The truck included a "fan cam," and people were invited to take a video that will become part of the Grey Cup Festival in November. The videos are a chance for people to share their fondest Grey Cup and CFL memories, or what they love about their community.
Those who made a video at the caravan were entered into a draw for two tickets to the Grey Cup, two Grey Cup jerseys, two merch bags or two tickets to a tailgate party in Vancouver.
"So far, we've had thousands of people come and see us already and we've only been in small communities, so it's really nice to see the interactions and everybody supporting," Smith said.
The 2024 Grey Cup will take place at Vancouver's BC Place stadium November 17.
