After the tragic passing of singer Liam Payne , fans around the world found ways to grieve and honour the memory of the former One Direction band member. In Calgary, fans gathered on Tuesday Oct. 22 near the Peace Bridge at Prince’s Island Park to mourn the loss.
Alicia Red Crow from the Siksika Nation is a long time One Directioner.
In 2015, her family surprised her with concert tickets for her 15th birthday when One Direction visited Edmonton during their ‘On the Road’ tour.
While scrolling though social media last week, Red Crow noticed memorial gatherings for the late singer were taking place around the world but there was nothing for Calgary.
She made a Facebook post asking if locals would be interested is having a celebration of life for Payne. There was an immediate interest and fans began pulling together to make it happen.
One person found the location, another made posters, “and people just coming like ‘Hey is there anything you need, do you need music, do you need flowers, do you need whatever?'” said Red Crow.
It was not just Calgarians that wanted to mourn Payne’s passing. Some fans also drove in from the surrounding communities including Brooks, Alta. and Red Crow has been asked to organize a memorial in Edmonton but declined due to the distance.
Payne died on Oct. 16, after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
Music is an escape from realty for most people and Payne’s music was an escape for Red Crow. Red Crow said to lose the celebrity in such a tragic way has been hard for her and she wants to bring awareness to substance abuse and remind others of the importance of mental health.
“Be kind, spread love, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know each other.”