Approximately 50 acres of fun and excitement is being served up at the Lakedell Country Fair on Sept. 5.
Advertised as the largest one-day annual fair in Alberta, coordinator Teresa Thompson says this is the Lakedell Agricultural Society's 39th annual fair, held at the Lakedell Agricultural Complex.
The festivities start early with a 7 a.m. pancake breakfast and the day only builds from there. The Lakedell Country Fair offers events for visitors of all ages, says Thompson. “There's so many activities going on.”
The extravagant fair boasts an array of events including: a 10 a.m. parade, old time fiddles jamboree, a trade show, a pie eating contest, Lakedell Mighty Mutts Agility Club demo, spike pounding competitions, calf scrambles, ranch roping, log sawing competitions, wild cow milking, live entertainment, a youth horse show, frog races, potato sack races, a petting zoo, the Wild Heart Trick Riders, a horseshoe tournament and a heavy horsepull competition.
Thompson says any additional events will be posted online at www.lakedell.org. The day of the fair visitors can pick up a site map at the gates listing all the events and their start times.
Held between the scheduled events are kiddy games, bouncy castles and what Thompson is calling the human hamster balls.
“It's all right here on the facility grounds. It's a huge event, it's an all day event,” said Thompson.
“We've got acres and acres. We're pretty privileged to have that available,” she added.
Thompson says every year the fair grows, with more and more vendors and visitors wanting to partake. “There's people that travel hours to come see the fair so that's pretty cool.”
“Thousands of people attend and we have hundreds of volunteers,” she added. The groups that also use the ag ground, such as 4-H and the Mighty Mutts, throw their support and manpower into volunteering.
Serving as the backbone of the Lakedell Country Fair, each activity is run by a volunteer and Thompson says the event runs with the adage 'the more the merrier.'
With so many events and so much space Thompson says the fair is a go, rain or shine.
Children eight and under get in free and gate admission for an all day bracelet is $10. The pancake breakfast runs from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the main hall. Those under six eat free, ages six to 12 are $4 and adults cost $7.