As a celebration of community - of local schools and school children coming together with resident neighbours, city dignitaries, and local organizations – May Day in New Westminster has evolved beyond tradition to become a legacy event that has turned 150 years old.
The goal of the New Westminster May Day Community Association is to preserve and celebrate May Day.
Be sure to attend our celebration of May Day in New Westminster, the longest running May Day in the Commonwealth of Nations.
Nicole Binns
President & Founder
New Westminster May Day Community Association
Nicole “Nikki” Binns is a long time New Westminster resident who has been highly active in her community, including running for Mayor of New Westminster in the 2018 municipal election. Her passion for May Day grew from the positive and memorable experiences of her seven children, who have all been involved in May Day in some capacity, either as a May Queens, Royal Knights, or May Pole dancers. Nikki’s volunteer efforts have included sports coaching and association executive leadership, as well as working with local PACs on building positive experiences for students in the community. She believes in the power of cultural heritage to enrich children’s lives and build strong community cohesion.
Rocky Suffron
Vice President & Founder
New Westminster May Day Community Association
A native of New Westminster, Rocky’s dedication to the City’s positive and vibrant community spirit is well known. As a parent raising his children in the Royal City, Rocky is passionate about ensuring the unique cultural legacy of May Day is passed on to future generations. His vision is to see New Westminster’s May Day not only survive the challenges of preserving its historic cultural value, but also grow and thrive in a way that is a fun and truly enriching experience for all ages and cultures in the City he loves.
Lorraine Brett
Communications Director
New Westminster May Day Community Association
Longtime New Westminster resident, communications professional and realtor, Lorraine Brett has been deeply involved in New Westminster community work for many years. A founding member of the New Westminster Homelessness Coalition, former director of the Hyack Festival Association, Sponsorship manager for the New Westminster Senior Secondary Hyack Football program, Promotions Chair for the New Westminster 2010 Torch Relay Committee, are just a few of the many local organizations Lorraine has lent her talents to. Lorraine was also the BC Liberal Party MLA Candidate for New Westminster in the 2017 Provincial election. Her support of New Westminster’s May Day did not come without research, which included using her journalistic experience to locate and interview more than fifty past May Queens and other participants in an online video project called “Quest for the Queens,” in 2005. The emotional and gripping interviews with past May Day participants helped Lorraine appreciate the deep cultural significance of the festival and the how it has positively influenced the lives of tens of thousands of residents over a span of 150 years, creating shared memories and a lasting sense of place.
David Brett
Director of Indigenous Engagement
New Westminster May Day Community Association
David, a mining executive and technology entrepreneur, has been involved in volunteer work in New Westminster for many years. He spent 5 years as President of the Queens Park Resident’s Association and 4 years as Vice Chair of the Queens Park Neighborhood Heritage Study Working Group, a committee that helped spearhead the creation of the largest Heritage Conservation Area in Western Canada. As President of the Hyack Festival Association (2017), David collaborated with New Westminster’s Qayqayt First Nation to create a theme for Hyack during Canada’s 150th year that would help build bridges of truth and reconciliation in the City. The theme, “ First Nations. First Cities. Telling Our Story. Together.,” furthers the important principals of inclusiveness and sharing positive cultural narratives that celebrate heritage. David’s role in the New Westminster May Day Community Association is to foster significant First Nations engagement and involvement in the historic 2020 May Day 150th event.
Join our team
We're looking for passionate volunteers and coordinators to help make all of our upcoming May Days a huge success!