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THE BRANDON SUN • WINTER FAIR • MARCH 2025
Lead Clydesdales with a heavy-horse team from Brookdale, MB get a little jumpy during the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair at the Westoba Place Arena in 2024. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun). H EAVIES, HACKNEYS AND HUNTER JUMPERS
MATT PACKWOOD R ooted in the history of industry in southwest Manitoba, draft horses like Clydesdales and Percherons were paramount in early developments in agriculture. While times have changed, and technology in farming certainly has as well, various horse breeds still play a significant role in the Royal Manito- ba Winter Fair. And perhaps none more than the heavies. As winter turns to spring, fairgoers
City Arena — the corner of 10th and Victoria where Brandon Police Ser- vice is currently located — until the Keystone Centre was built and the events moved back. The two fairs amalgamated in 1967 and became the Provincial Exhibi- tion. In July of 1970, the Brandon Winter Fair was granted Patronage during a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, receiving Royal designation and thus the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair was born. Earliest versions of the fair includ- ed demonstrating what draft horses were capable of and how farmers uti- lized them to complete the necessary tasks of the time.
eagerly await the days until spring break. What we see today is the sprawling, 540,000 square foot Keystone Centre and the thousands of guests that en- joy the Provincial Exhibition’s mar- quee event. Established in 1882 as the Brandon Agricultural Society as a means for lo- cal farmers to showcase products like livestock and grains, which led to the Manitoba Summer Fair. By 1906 the demand for another fair was well in place, and the Bran- don Winter Fair was born. The earliest versions of the fair were on the current Keystone Centre grounds before moving to the Wheat
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