Lloydminster’s Colonial Days Fair is powering through the pandemic to kick off tomorrow.
2020’s Fair will look a little different from years passed, as the Exh responds to public health orders and guidelines, which has put their concert series and trade fair on hold.
Several classic events will still be going ahead though, such as a reverse parade that people can drive past to see the floats, fair foods and a drive-in fireworks show. Their annual Thursday pancake breakfast will also go ahead, but will be a drive-thru style service. There will be some patio spaces open so that people can gather and eat their fair foods while still maintaining physical distancing.
Assistant General Manager of the Lloyd Exh Jackie Tomayer says they’ve received a lot of help from community partners like the City, Lloydminster and District C0-Op and Synergy Credit Union, which has helped the event go ahead despite the pandemic hurting the Exh’s revenue.
“As everyone can imagine, if we don’t have any events, we don’t have any revenue, we don’t have any income. So we’re trying to, as much as we can for Lloydminster, [be] cost-effective, so we really appreciate the sponsors that came on board this year.”
Another way the Lloydminster Exhibition Association is adapting to the pandemic is by taking a lot of their events virtual through social media and live streams. One of the ways they did this is with the Makers, Bakers and Creators project, putting local people’s work on display, including photographs, planter buildings and baking, among others.
The showcase wasn’t just set to certain categories, however. Tomayer says the community jumped at the chance to be part of the artists’ showcase.
“The most popular category was the COVID project category. So that was anything you did [during] COVID, you could send it in. So we had a lot of interesting projects that we’re excited to reveal tomorrow. So those will be up on our Facebook page to enjoy from Wednesday to Saturday.”
The reverse parade will be the first event kicking off the Colonial Days Fair. It opens at 1 PM and will run until 8 PM.