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THE BRANDON SUN • WINTER FAIR • MARCH 2024
A horse team shows its skills in the Westoba Place arena during the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun)
EXCITEMENT BUILDS FOR THE ROYAL Old favourites mix with new at this year’s fair
BY MIRANDA LEYBOURNE Local Journalism Initiative
evolved, grown and become so pop- ular over the years that it takes an extremely large team of people to en- sure that things run smoothly, Hum- phries said. “There’s [a large] amount of volun- teerism from our board of directors, and then through our daily volun- teers on site. And the, of course, that all links back to the staff in the office,” he said. “It’s colossal.” At this year’s event, the Royal Farm Yard will be home to a petting zoo, live animal shows, cattle shows and more. There will be a giant sandbox for kids to play in, a mini tractor to ride and a seed separator to try out. Attendees will also have the chance to meet farm animals of all kinds, and the farmers who own and take care of them.
heavy horse competitions, livestock sales and displays, a hands-on agri- cultural education program, live en- tertainment and over 300 commer- cial and agricultural exhibits, people from across the Prairies, the country and even from the United States have been flocking to the fair since it first began on July 11, 1970. Planning for the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair starts as soon as the cur- rent fair ends, Mark Humphries, gen- eral manager of the Provincial Exhi- bition of Manitoba, told the Sun. “We literally start the day after the fair is finished, so it’s a continuous 12-month planning process,” he said. “It never stops with the Royal Mani- toba Winter Fair. It literally is a con- tinuous loop, because of the amount of moving parts and the amount of complex committees that we have.” Going back many years ago, the fair was solely volunteer run. But it’s
Manitoba’s number one indoor equestrian fair is back this spring break, offering a multitude of events, activities, and experiences for fairgo- ers of all ages. The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair runs from March 25-30 at the Key- stone Centre in Brandon. It’s one of western Canada’s largest agricultural events and one of only two fairs in Canada to receive Royal designation from the late Queen Elizabeth II. It’s also been recognized as one of the top 100 events in North America by the tourism industry, according to the Provincial Exhibition of Manito- ba’s website. The fair is put on by the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, a non-profit, charitable organization and registered agricultural society. From world-class show jumping,
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