BONNYVILLE - The upcoming annual Bonnyville Fall Fair and Farmer’s Market Sept. 6 and 7, will feature a two-day farmers’ market, Indian relay races, children’s games, and more.
The event is hosted by the Bonnyville Agricultural Society at the local rodeo grounds.
“It’s been a very long tradition of doing like a big farmers’ market at the end of the season, and then we would have just a bunch of kids’ games,” Ag. Society president Corey Dows told Lakeland This Week. “So, it’s more about families and kids, and then we’ve started adding different events to it to build it up bigger and bigger over the years.”
The farmers market will be held from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6 and from noon-4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7. This year’s event will feature a dance with live music from the group Gypsy Renegades. Doors for the dance open at 7 p.m. and there is a $20 cover charge.
The farmers’ market usually attracts around a 1,000 people and offers a variety of goods and products for sale.
“It’s everything from fresh vegetables to baking to crafts to whatever people want to sell,” Dows said.
Indian relay races are scheduled for 4 p.m. on Sept. 6 and 2 p.m. on Sept. 7. The traditional sport of Indian relay racing involves teams of riders running laps around a track and swapping horses after each lap.
Dows explained the ag. society partners with Kehewin Cree Nation, which brings in horses for the event.
Youngsters who attend this year’s Bonnyville Fall Fair on Sept. 6 will find plenty of fun activities to keep them occupied.
These activities, which start at 3 p.m. on the first day, include mutton bustin - a competition that involves kids riding on the backs of sheep in a bid to win small prizes such as buckles.
There will also be wagon rides, face painting, and pony rides on offer during Saturday afternoon.
The fair will also feature the exciting sport of wild rooster racing. Dows said roosters are released onto the rodeo grounds for kids to chase after and catch. Whoever catches roosters get to keep them, he pointed out.
“The kids just love that kind of stuff,” Dows said.
In keeping with the theme of the fall harvest theme, this also includes a contest focused on whoever grows the biggest zucchini, as well as a pie contest.
Hosting the Bonnyville Fall Fair each year provides entertainment for families while giving people an opportunity to socialize, said of the two-day event.
“Kids are just going back to school, it’s time to have some fun for them,” he said. “It brings the community together.”
For more information, please contact the Bonnyville Agricultural Society at (780) 826-3240 or [email protected]
