The Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association season has been postponed but they guarantee the finals will be back in Lloydminster next year.
The Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Association has hosted the finals for the past 27 years but due to COVID-19 concerns it won’t be the case this summer.
“Everybody involved is really disappointed that we’ve had to suspend our season,” says CPCA Marketing Manager Kim Carey. “I can’t remember this ever happening in the 39 years that I’ve been a part of chuckwagons in the CPCA. In saying that, we feel it was the best thing to do to protect our families, staff and everyone involved.”
The finals bring in more than 15,000 people to the city over five days of racing as well as a boost to the local economy. The same prizes and entertainment scheduled for this season will be brought forward into next year. The finals has been rescheduled for August 18 to 22, 2021.
Carey says the Exhibition and the city are great partners and Lloydminster is always a stop on the tour they look forward to.
“We hope all our drivers can find a way to make it through this difficult time so we can have them all come back next year and have a safe successful season.”
She also says it will be a hard year for drivers as one of their main revenue sources is no longer there to help them.
“It’s going to be a really tough year with all the horses and the expenses that we still have to incur without any sponsorships or prize money. The only two forms of revenue that drivers have are gone for this year.”
CPCA fans can still support drivers and keep up to date with the chuckwagon community by watching the CPCAs video series on Facebook.
On Wednesdays, the CPCA will be interviewing drivers and outriders to give a glimpse of what they’re doing while races are off. On Fridays, they will be interviewing show committee members, barn help, race personnel and other members of the community to show the behind the scenes work needed for a show.
The Lloyd Ex will continue to assess all events and make decisions on their future on an event by event basis.