WESTLOCK – Thousands of Westlock and area residents and visitors from across Alberta welcomed the return of the annual Westlock & District Agricultural Fair & Rodeo Aug. 19-21 at the Ag Fair Grounds.
‘Working Together’ was the theme for this year’s fair hosted by Westlock & District Agricultural Society.
About 3,500 people walked through the gates over the three-day event, noted Ag society first vice-president, Carl Larsen, with the highest number of attendees coming from the rodeo events and the demolition derby, which closed out the fair on Sunday.
“Friday’s attendance was down a little bit than in year’s past, especially for the chucks and chariots but other than that I think for the short notice of putting it together I think we did a pretty good job,” said Larsen. “Sunday was definitely busy. Even the rodeo had quite a bit more attendance than typical, but we got rained out for the chuckwagons and chariots Sunday morning.”
Some of the other highlights included a parade, draft horse pull, hall exhibits, face painting and bouncy castles for kids, a petting zoo, variety talent show, horseshoe tournament, beet cattle show, tractor pull and a free pancake breakfast.
The 106th edition of the fair entertained area citizens and families and although it was organized in just a few weeks, was a success despite some lower numbers. It is the Westlock & District Agricultural Society’s biggest fundraiser every year.
“As long as we break even, then it makes it worthwhile to do this for the whole community,” said Larsen, noting several new faces with the society board. “We’ve got new directors so it was a big learning curve for all of us.”
“I think everybody did a very good job getting back into it,” he added, noting the two-year absence due to the pandemic.
The society will be meeting in the coming weeks to review this year’s event and discuss what areas they can improve for next year. One thing that many fair goers missed this year was the midway — with carnival rides and games.
“By the time the government released all (COVID-19) restrictions, it was too late. We went to book them and they were all booked up — we tried four different outfits,” explained Larsen. “Those (fair) outfits came here for years. They always did Barrhead and then us but they were booked that weekend.
“We tried our best with the bouncy houses and petting zoo and the face painting to at least give something for the kids to do,” he added.
The event, always held the third week in August, drew many people from outside the region this year, particularly rodeo participants from British Columbia, Saskatchewan and across Alberta.
“It was good to be back and get people out again,” said Larsen.
