This year’s Hylo Harvest Festival went off without a hitch, and even the rain couldn’t keep the smiles off the faces of the men and women who were at the event.
“What rain?” joked Terry Ekins, who was named the King of the Harvest Festival this year. “I don’t even notice it.”
Saturday was packed full of events, from children’s games to the King and Queen competitions that determine who rides in next year’s parade.
The day kicked off with a parade around the rural hamlet 20 kilometers southwest of Lac La Biche, which had kids on top of floats throwing candy to the crowd. Shauna Hannin, event coordinator, said it’s a fun way to mix up what a usual parade is about.
“Our seniors all collect candy while the kids are throwing it,” she said with a laugh.
After the parade, kids were treated to all sorts of craft sessions and games. There was a pony ride for the adventurous kids, and a petting zoo for the soft-hearted ones. Desjarlais and Company, a local country band, also provided entertainment inside the Hylo-Venice Agriplex for the older crowd. Ekins said this is his second year attending, and that he came mostly because of the entertainment that was provided for the kids.
“The events are for the kids more than anything,” said the king of the festival.
After the arts and crafts were put away and the ponies had time to rest their hooves, the King and Queen competitions began in full force.
Starting off with model helicopter flights, it was a haphazard event with the remote controlled aircraft being held inside due to the rain. Everyone seemed to have difficulties guiding the chopper onto the little helipad, except for Terry’s son Riley who had no troubles with lift-off or landing.
There was a friendly competition with the following hay bale tosses. Trevor Rolph, a former king of the festival in 2010, had a mighty toss with his turn. But Terry was able to put a spin on his bale and lurch it forward to win the event.
The next event was the log-standing pillow fight. While the men’s competitions went quite quickly, with Terry de-logging Trevor in the finals, the women’s event had a lull during one fight. Olivia Cadieux and Audra Ekins were as steady as the logs they stood on, and ran out of breath trying to knock each other over. At one point, they even attempted to bribe one another to jump off the log. But Audra eventually got the upper hand and toppled Olivia off her pedestal.
The watermelon-eating contest was a fierce battle between the participants, with father and son Ekins going rind and rind against each other. But Terry was able to edge out his son in the last few bites, and took the crown of King for all his efforts.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Terry. “More fun than anything.”
The pig catching contest was the finale to the day, with participants from the age of one up to adults chasing the little swine around a pen. Hannin said there is no easy way to catch a pig except to get dirty in the mud.
“If you’re going to get right in there and jump on them it could be easy,” said the event coordinator. “But if you’re just going to chase them you’re never going to catch it.”
The kids had some difficulty catching the piggies, but when it came to the adults there was no competition.
Mayoral candidate Tom Lett joined the event at the last minute, and enveloped the hog with his massive hands before the other competitors even had a chance to leap. Terry was glad he didn’t compete, as he wouldn’t have had the energy to try and compete with the former councilman and expert pig catcher.
“I think I did enough today,” he said with a laugh.
With the pigs all caught and the rain pouring down, the folks at the festival called it a day. There are no flashing lights or fancy carnival booths to be found at the Hylo Harvest Festival.
But for the men, women and families who come to show their support for the small farming community, there doesn’t need to be.
“There’s no big extravagant rides here,” said this year’s King of the Harvest. “It’s just down-to-earth games.”
