CBC rolls out cross-country Canada Day plans with Alessia Cara, Rick Mercer

Some of the nation's newest stars will help celebrate Canada Day alongsidemusical legends, marking the country's milestone 150th birthday festivities.

More than 20 musical and comedyperformances are lined up as part of CBC'snationwide coverage, capped off bythe fireworks on Parliament Hill which areexpected to betriple theusual size. The concertwill be broadcastontelevision, radio and streamed online.Highlights include:

• Ottawa: Alessia Cara, Gordon Lightfoot, SerenaRyder, Walk Off The Earth
• Yellowknife:Bruce Cockburn
• Victoria:Arkells
• Toronto:Buffy Sainte-Marie
• Banff:Brett Kissel
• Winnipeg: Whitehorse
• Montreal: DJ Champion

The marquee event includes a three-hour evening concertspecial hosted by comedian Rick Mercer onParliament Hill,which will check in with cities celebrating across the country. Mercer hosted a similar special for the CBCthis past New Year's Eve.

July 1also marks Peter Mansbridge's final day on air as CBC's chief correspondent. Mansbrigeisretiring as host of The National.

He has traditionally helmedCBC's coverage of the Canada Day ceremoniesin Ottawa and will host a Canada 150 news special during the day on CBC News Network.It willincludethe visit by Prince Charles and his wife Camilla.

Heather Hiscox will kick off CBC News Network's coverage earlier in the day from Charlottetownlong argued to be the birthplace of Confederation.

The P.E.I. capitalis also the focus ofYour Special Canada, an hour-long Canada Day comedy specialfrom JonathanTorrens, who is perhaps best knownfor playingJ-RocinTrailerPark Boys. Itwill air a few hours before the big cross-country concert, followed by a special 150-themed edition ofAir Farce.

Torrensis from Charlottetown and will be in his hometown on July 1 to celebrate.

Blanket fort in Trudeau's office

There is also speciality programming in store for CBC Radio and CBC Kids.

Out in the Open's PiyaChattopadhyay and Cross Country Checkup's Duncan McCuewill helm CBCRadio One's midday Canada Day coverage, while CBCRadio 2 will spotlight a playlist ofall Canadian musicthroughout the day. Both will air thethree-hour cross-country concert at night.

• GordonLightfootand massive fireworks planned for Canada 150 in Ottawa

And CBC Kids gets its own hour-long Canada Day special, early in the morning on CBC-TV. That crew will also be on Parliament Hill and will show scenes from their Prime Minister for a Day contestthe winner got to build a blanket fort in Justin Trudeau's office.

Here's a full run downof the CBC's Canada Day plans and how you can watch and listen to them.