Calgarians find ways to beat the heat and enjoy a sunny summer day outdoors

As we near the end of July and the thermometer climbs above 30 C, many Calgarians are spending time outside but are also doing their best to do it smartly.

Bruce Hall was watching his grandchildren play in the water at Sandy Beach along the Elbow River on Monday.

"We've got it all," he said.

"They've got their hats on and they're sprayed with sunscreen and they're in good shape."

Maeve Hinton is eight years old and, along with her 10-year-old brother, were floating down the Elbow River on rafts with their mom.

They know they have to be protected from the sun.

"Screen and drink lots of water," Maeve said.

"It's just fun to swim in the places that you can swim. It's fun to get wet."

Kathleen Hosfield, a season pass holder at Heritage Park, knows it's important to arrive early before the heat of the day sets in.

"It's so important, yes," she said,

"We always have the kids in big sun hats. I'm always wearing my big sun hat and we've got our SPF 50 or more on, always."

Dominic Terry, strategic communications manager at the park, says while staff wear period costumes, they're not made of wool and can actually keep the people wearing them cool.

"The costuming department uses a certain kind of fabric in the costumes that actually helps ... if you have the whole costume on, it actually airs itself out pretty well," he said.

"So that's one of the things that we do here to try to keep people as cool as possible."

Terry says staff are always encouraged to drink lots of water, wear a hat and seek out shade as much as possible.

"There are people in the midway or the fairgrounds that are in the sun, so we're moving them around as much as possible," he said.

"Having them drink lots of water and keep that hat on all the time."

Daniel McEwan heads a crew of five working for Liquaforce on underground sewer lines.

The team has to be in the sun to get the job done.

"Usually, it gets pretty hot, especially with wearing the orange coveralls and the long sleeves," he said.

"That orange is not as hot as black but it still gets pretty hot, especially when you're all covered up."

McEwan says he hosts a morning meeting to talk safety with the team and remind everyone to stay hydrated.

"You gotta get the job done," McEwan said.

"Luckily enough, that truck has got a reefer, so it's cold, so we go in there if we have to cool off. We're working in there part of the time anyway, so it's a nice little cool downtime."

Madeleine Lloyd was at the South Glenmore Water Park with her six-week-old son Wallace.

The two found a shady spot with friends to enjoy the hot day.

"Especially just breaking out of COVID, we're finally able to enjoy each other and the nice weather," she said.

"And that's something we didn't get to do, so we're very fortunate to have a summer baby, let alone a baby outside of COVID now."