Near perfect Fair weather had the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company smiling.
“We were pleased with the Fair overall,” George Fowler general manager of the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company said.
“We had four good days, attendance wise. Saturday was extremely busy. By far the busiest day of the four (days),” he said, adding “we were certainly glad it wasn’t 35°C. It wasn’t boiling hot. The temperature was actually pretty good. No rain and not much wind.”
“If you were going to order it (the weather) this would probably be what you would order.”
Good weather throughout the five days of the Moose Jaw Hometown Fair and Parade drove attendance.
No final attendance figures are available at this time as the Exhibition is still tabulating the final results.
“Attendance was solid, and we thought the Midway operator gave us (a good show), which was more than 2022,” Fowler said.
There were changes in how the Midway was laid out this year, but he said the changes were made to make it easier for Fair goers to navigate.
“We had a different layout on the grounds and it seemed like it allowed people to flow well,” he said.
Highlights of the Fair included the free entertainment included with gate admission.
The entertainment was geared to be family friendly.
“We were very happy with the dog show, the petting zoo and the pony rides. The acts we booked out of Calgary (were great)…the jugglers, the stilt walkers etc.”
For the second year in a row, there were bouncy castles set up in the Moose Jaw Exhibition Convention Centre which Fowler described as being “a hit”.
“People can go in there and get into the air conditioning and let the kids have a run around while they sit there and have something to eat or drink,” he said.
The hunter jumper horse show - the third of four shows in a local point scoring series - went off without a hitch, with Fair goers wandering over to take a look at the horses jumping.
A 4H beef show also went off without a hitch.
“Overall we were extremely pleased.”
About this year’s fire show Fowler said “it was good.”
“It would be nice to have it at about 11 PM or midnight but unfortunately nobody would be here to see it.”
“We shut down at 11 PM so we have to do it a little bit earlier and it’s not quite pitch black,” Fowler said.
The Midway shuts down at 11 PM on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Fowler said it had nothing to do with the City’s noise bylaw.
Rather when they were open until midnight in the past, there were problems with some people coming to the ground after 11 PM inebriated and causing trouble.
Because of this, the decision was made years ago to shut down at 11 PM instead of midnight.
Although no final tally was available for how many free pony rides were given over the four-day Fair, it numbered into the hundreds.
“ I never got numbers specifically off of him but I know he was very happy with the people he was dealing with and the overall responses he was getting from people taking pony rides or participating in his barnyard petting zoo,” he said.
On Friday, June 23, the pony ride and petting zoo operator said he’d already had over 450 people take advantage of the free pony rides.
“It was extremely well attended, and we are very pleased with the care he took of the animals. Several times a day he swapped out horses. Also, several times a day he shut down for 45 minutes to allow them a chance to relax. He had stalls set up in the arena barn so they could get away from the rides and relax,” Fowler said.
“He was very caring about his animals. It was something we were sure glad to see.”
Local musician Magic By Chris was back for his second year in a row, where he walked the grounds and provided a roving magic show.
“Chris wandered around and performed his close-up magic. He is quite amazing and if you haven’t seen him, you should,” Fowler said.
“We are happy to say there was no major incident this year. We had some lost children, we had some lost parents.”
The number of lost children this year was not a major number with about six, misplacing your parents, Fowler said.
Families were quickly reunited.
“Other than that, things went well. You always have a few little hiccough things like skinned knees and the like. We went through a few boxes of Band-Aids, but there was no serious injuries to report,” Fowler said.
“Everything went pretty smooth.”
Next up, the Fair organizing board will look at this year’s edition of the Moose Jaw Hometown Fair to see how to ensure a good show in 2024.
