Organizers have made the tough call to cancel what would have been Aldergrove's 30th annual Christmas Light Up party and parade on Saturday, Dec. 14. 

Alyssa Nielsen, president of the Christmas committee, said they are all gutted. 

"One of our folks who have been with the parade for its 30 years said they've never had to cancel before," she shared. 

Nielsen said the committee and volunteers spent more than two hours trying to set up tents and barricades for the party, but the gusts of wind were too strong. 

"It's been incredibly strong gusts in Aldergrove. Our tents were blowing everywhere. The 20x20 tent for the hotdogs couldn't be put up. The Township of Langley stage was delivered but they said it's too dangerous to put it up." 

She added that she can't imagine the parade "floats trying to come down the road and possibly have things blowing everywhere." 

"If one child or member of our community was injured by coming out to this event today, this is really the kind of weather we are supposed to encourage people to stay indoors for, I'd never sleep again," Nielsen shared. 

"We really rely on the cover [of tents]. We can't be out in the open trying to serve hotdogs, and if it rains then... there's just too many logistics involved that we can't work around." 

Nielsen posted the announcement around 1:45 p.m. Saturday in the Christmas in Aldergrove Facebook page. 

"I am so sad to make this post, but we have had to made the difficult decision to cancel the party and parade today. The call has had to be made due to safety. Although the weather may seem milder in some locations than others, the winds gusts at our venues have been extremely high," reads her post. 

Thousands in Langley and nearly all of Aldergrove lost power Saturday morning due to the wind storm. 

"I'm really hoping for kindness and understanding from the community that these calls were made due to safety," she said. 

Nielsen encourages people who were planning to attend the parade with donations for the food bank to drop the food items off at the Aldergrove legion branch, located at 26607 Fraser Hwy.

As for whether the parade may still happen, Nielsen could not confirm at this time. 

"For now, it's cancelled. If any opportunity arises for us to reschedule, we certainly would jump on that and be willing to put in our continued efforts into the New Year."