By Steve Hubrecht
[email protected]

Get your engine revving, the Canal Flats Cruise In is back.

The popular classic car show was first launched back in 2017. It ran through two more successful editions in 2018 and 2019, before the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the event in 2020 and 2021. With restrictions lifted, classic car (and motorcycle and truck) enthusiasts are gearing up for the fourth edition of the Cruise In, held during the village of Canal Flats’s annual Canal Days festival, in a bit more than a week’s time, on Saturday, June 4.

Event co-organizer Sjac Pronk told the Pioneer that admission for classic vehicles owners will be free this year, in celebration of the Cruise In’s return.

“I don’t want to ask anybody for money, after the hard times we’ve been through in the past two years,” said Pronk. “It’s a really nice, low-key event. Everybody gets together, meets new people and gets to see what other classic car lovers have been working on over the winter. It’s one of the first car shows of the season, so I really mean it when I say it’s a good chance to see what people have been up to over the winter.”

The event has drawn anywhere from 40 to 100 cars, and upwards of 500 spectators in the past.

“It’s great just to be back. It will be really good to see people — and their hot rods — out at an event like this again,” said Pronk.

The Cruise In will run from noon until 4 p.m. at Ballie Groham Avenue and Arbuckle Street.

Pronk is hoping — depending on insurance — to have another burnout pit at the Cruise In.

A burnout pit “is where people can park on a concrete pad and spin their tires and get away with it legally,” he explained. “It’s great, the RCMP officers are there watching and cheering you on. Normally you do that kind of thing, and the RCMP are getting you in trouble. At a burnout pit, it’s allowed and it’s all part of the fun.”

The burnout pit, if it goes ahead, will start at 5 p.m.

To stay updated on the burnout pit on the rest of the show, check the Canal Flats Cruise In Facebook page.