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The fourth annual Mad Hatters Parade and Tea Party will be going ahead this year virtually.

Organizer Catherine Larnon-Trout, founder of the Mad Hatters Foundation, decided that instead of cancelling the event because of the COVID-19 crisis, she will host her own personal tea party on Facebook Live.

And, Larnon-Trout is asking participants to do the same from their own home.

The Mad Hatters Parade and Tea Party was started by Larnon-Trout in an effort to eliminate the stigma of mental illness.

READ MORE: Mad Hatters Parade and Tea Party in Maple Ridge

In a lead-up to this years event Larnon-Trout will be sharing recipes for scones and cucumber sandwiches and instructions on how to make the perfect cup of tea with participants who register.

She will also be sharing instructions on how to make a tea party hat and musical shakers for children to participate in the entertainment.

And, instead of having a physical parade of hats she will be asking people to post pictures of their tea parties and the hats they created to the live Facebook feed.

There will be hat competitions and categories like there were before, said Larnon-Trout.

Maple Ridge-Mission MLA Bob DEith will be speaking again at this years event.

READ MORE: Mad hats for mental health

DEiths brother has suffered from mental illness for more than 30 years.

Last year he spoke about his brothers battles with schizophrenia, and how it impacted his family.

He explained that when his brothers mental health started to decline how his family had nowhere to turn to.

And how they had to work tirelessly to get him into a safe facility.

He also talked about how mental illness should not be stigmatized and how people should be encouraged to get help if they need it.

Entertainer Lisa Rae Simons will also be performing virtually for the event and the Maple Ridge Downtown Business Improvement Association has sponsored prizes for the best hats.

The Mad Hatters Tea Party takes place from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on May 30 on Facebook Live.

For more information or to register for the event visit the Mad Hatters Foundation Facebook page.

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Maple Ridge Mad Hatter's Foundation inviting people to host their tea party this year - Maple Ridge News