Many Maritimers chose to keep their New Year’s Eve celebrations to a minimum this year in an effort to help curb the current spike in COVID-19 cases.
“I was in bed at 9:30 p.m. Fast asleep after supper,” said one Fredericton woman.
With the confirmed case count climbing to an all-time high across the region, public health officials in all three Maritime provinces urged people to tone down their New Year’s Eve plans for the second year in a row.
Katie Friars and her husband, Brad, spent the night baking cookies and enjoying a meal dropped off on their doorstep by her mother – quite a change from years prior.
“We would usually have a gathering. Like, we would celebrate New Year’s with some friends and host a party and really, you know, eat and drink and be merry. But this year was definitely different from the usual,” said Brad Friars, during a Zoom interview on New Year’s Day.
The couple says they turned to technology to spend the evening with friends virtually.
“I had it set up downstairs that we could jump into a group call with some friends and we played games online called Jackbox and stuff like that. So, we did all that together and then counted down the new year all online together,” said Brad Friars.
Troy Paul, a resident of Moncton, said he would normally ring in the new year by hosting friends and family at his home for a large group dinner, but this year was different.
“We just did our own family thing. It was different, but we had to do what we had to do, right,” said Paul.
Ivan Daigle, a musician in the Moncton, N.B. area, was scheduled to ring in the new year performing in front of friends and family before COVID-19 restrictions cancelled his shows.
Instead of an in-person concert, the artist took to social media to put on one final performance for 2021.
“If the only other option is to do a virtual show, and I choke just saying that word because it’s painful, but if the only other option is in fact that, I will opt for that,” said Daigle.
Despite plenty of cancellations, some festivities were able to go ahead as planned.
Following COVID-19 safety protocols, more than 100 people took the chilly plunge into the waters of Mispec Beach, just outside of Saint John, N.B., for the annual Polar Dip.
“A lot of people had asked if it was still a go with COVID and all I said was, ‘I’m doing it.’ There’s a lot of space on the beach and enough room to distance and the cold water freezes all the bad pain of COVID,” laughed Trina Forrest, who along with organizing the dip, also took part.
Although most celebrations looked different again this year, many people felt it was the right choice to make, given the circumstances.
“I definitely hope so. Everybody I know was saying that they’re having a quiet night, they’re being responsible, they’re doing what we have to do and what public health has asked us to do,” said Paul.
