Skip to content

Elkhorn gears up for 126th Agricultural Fair

And a ground-breaking celebration

A team of volunteers has lined up another action-packed Elkhorn Fair for Saturday, July 13 – their 126th agricultural fair.

However, the fun begins at dusk the day before, on Friday evening, July 12. Movie night under the stars features Dumbo, a new film along the theme of the 1941 Walt Disney movie. A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.

Bring lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy the free movie along with complimentary popcorn on the Elkhorn Fair grounds.

Don’t go hungry at Elkhorn this weekend. Saturday morning starts off with a pancake breakfast, the canteen is open throughout the day and supper is served starting at 5:00 p.m.

Along with the morning horse show followed by sheep and cattle exhibitions, there’s a sheep shearing demonstration later in the day.

There will be home living displays and a farmers’ market.

And, for the kids there are afternoon activities including laser tag.

In the evening, chore teams will compete and with a Calcutta event for spectators.

Sara Crouse, an Elkhorn girl, will provide a Karaoke opportunity throughout the evening with an entertaining playlist.

BREAKING NEW GROUND

Elkhorn agricultural grounds has a bright future. At 6:30 p.m. there will be a ground-breaking ceremony to celebrate the building of a new canteen.

The Ag Society has been fundraising for the brand new building. The $225,000 project will provide an up-to-date canteen with a canopy covered patio. New washrooms will be a part of the facility as well, with running water and flush toilets.

Ag Society President Terri Frattinger is excited at the prospect of saying good-bye to the porta-potties that currently serve the fair and sports grounds.

She says the project “will really bring our community together.”

Built to current accessibility standards the facility will also be wheelchair accessible. It will improve service for current events such as the Elkhorn Fair and Western Weekend and also open up opportunities for new and bigger events in Elkhorn’s future.

Over recent years the Ag Society has improved their facilities with a handsome new sign at the outdoor arena and new steel panels. The adjoining sports grounds have also seen improvements.

“We’ve got some really great [ball] diamonds. In the future we might be able to hold some provincial tournaments.”

Frattinger envisions this as a place that would be attractive to other events such as outdoor weddings. “With a nice covered area with picnic tables, a kitchen… it could be a venue for family reunions… any kind of event.”

Although it’s not all paid for yet, through fundraising, grants, and help from the community, about two-thirds of the funding is in place.

“We’re going to start construction of our facility in August,” says Frattinger, “after Western Weekend is over.”

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks