Exhibition Planning For A Fair It Just Depends On COVID - 19

Whether or not there is a Moose Jaw Hometown Fair this year all depends upon what the COVID - 19 restrictions and mandates - if any exist - not just here but in other provinces.

That is the word from George Fowler general manager of the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company.

Fowler sat down with MJ Independent to not only discuss what is going on with the planning of the fair, the potential of it happening as well as the overall state of events at the Moose Jaw Exhibition.

“We are planning on having one (Moose Jaw Hometown Fair),” Fowler said going on to explain that there are still many factors with the COVID - 19 which could see the event cancelled for the third year in a row.

“There are so many unknowns at this point and things can change rapidly,” he said, adding “I mean things can get worse faster than they can get better.”

Despite the doom and gloom of COVID - 19 the Moose Jaw Exhibition has seen the return of events which must follow the mandated restrictions. Events which did not see any known outbreaks associated with them. It is the good news in the cloudy skies of the pandemic.

Planning for the fair is right now underway.

“With the size of the Fair you need to do a certain amount of time to get everything ready. It (the Fair) is much more than a Midway,” he said.

Things need to be done such as booking entertainment for the Fair. Preparations which are cautiously moving ahead with the pandemic overshadowing the planning of the Fair.

“On a normal year we would have been booking things in November for next year such as entertainment and food vendors…this year we are moving ahead cautiously but we are still talking to agents (to book entertainment) and food vendors.”

Entertainers for example need to be booked and the two years most have not been able to come up from the United States or elsewhere to entertain can make it easier to book while at the same time many performers have quit the industry for other jobs.

The same holds true with popular concessions - some have shut down forever due to there being no fair circuit for the past two years.

Asked if the present situation holds - with restrictions in every province except Saskatchewan - could Moose Jaw not hold a fair.

For Fowler the likely answer is no as it is not economically feasible to do so. The midway company, West Coast Amusements, basis their season if they are able to work a certain number of events to pay their way from the west coast to Saskatchewan and back again.

Travelling costs are shared by all shows the same way concert tours are.

“The route the fair is they are working their way out from the (west) Coast and then back to the Coast through all of their shows.”

But what about a one off? Could the Moose Jaw Exhibition not just pay them to come here if there were no restrictions? The answer to that is no it would not be economically feasible, Fowler said.

“If you went to single booking them I don’t know what the cost would be. A lot more than we could afford,” he said.

Asked about the potential of another midway company such as the one that appeared at Regina and Saskatoon in 2021 coming to here Fowler said Moose Jaw is simply to small of a venue for that midway to consider coming here.

“They wouldn’t play us, we are too small.”

About Moose Jaw not having a Fair last year Fowler said it was all about a hit and miss for the restrictions. With Moose Jaw holding their fair the end of June, the second stop for West Coast Amusements in a season, they missed having a Fair due to the restrictions not being relaxed enough until mid July.

“It was a hit and a miss, they (Regina and Saskatoon) got lucky…for us the rules did not change until July and we go in June.”

With the Fair not happening two years in a row Fowler said the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company has been able to stage other events and with proper management and direction from the Board been able to not lay anyone off as well as financially still maintain viability.

Although the Fair is the largest event the Exhibition puts on there are other threats such as bad weather when the Fair is held.

“If the weather cooperates the fair can be a source of profit for the Company. If we have four days of poor weather we have the potential to lose money…it is a tough industry because it is so weather dependent and that is not just here. COVID just added another dimension (to the industry).”

The two years of no fair circuit has likely hit the Midway industry harder as the carnival industry has not been able to make any money as they sat idle. Prior COVID - 19 the North American Midway industry was in a steep decline shrinking from over 400 operators to just over 100 operators in Canada and the United States.

Despite having to cancel two years in a row the Exhibition Company has been using the downtime to make some extensive repairs to make the event better for attendees.

Those upgrades include a major repair of the area which houses the Kiddy Land at the fair. The Exhibition spent thousands of dollars to dig down the area (parking lot just south of the former Golden Mile Casino) to reach firm soil and repair a large section of the area to improve the surface draining.

“We did significant asphalt work where Kiddie Land is in…it will prevent puddling and help it dry off faster…we also did significant work where games and food and beverage are. In that area we have also done significant asphalt work as well,” Fowler said.

Despite the uncertainty COVID - 19 has thrown over top of holding a Fair Fowler said the Exhibition is still planning on holding its traditional parade on Main Street if the Fair is a go.

The last time the Moose Jaw Hometown Fair parade was held the Wednesday evening rain clouds cleared allowing one of the best parades in many people’s opinions to occur.

The bottom line is the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company can financially survive without the Hometown Fair for another year but it is an event they still want to put on as it is appreciated by many in the community.

“We are just hoping everything settles down and we can get back to normal where we can get back to entertaining people and people can come out and have some fun.”

GLASS HALF FULL

Despite Fowler not sugar coating the uncertainty surrounding holding the Fair he did say there were a lot of high points and good signs out there for the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company.

One not mentioned was during the pandemic the Exhibition Company has yet to have to lay staff off but has used innovative shifting and the time to make repairs to keep staff occupied and they even finished up the 2021 fiscal year with a small surplus.

The biggest one was the ability to return to events in the second half of 2021.

“There is way more going on up here than the Fair,” Fowler said, adding that although the Fair is the largest single event the Exhibition Company puts on the other events throughout the year attract four to five times more people than the Fair does.

“The last half of the year as far as horse shows went we were able to pretty well hold all of our shows,” he said, adding “on a normal year we would have four times and more people here for weddings, horse shows, trade shows and other events.”

For 2022 the Exhibition is rapidly booking up dates for events other than the Hometown Fair.

“The horses and livestock (bookings) look good for 2022 and we are also seeing bookings for weddings, craft shows and trade shows.”

The events are like the Fair dependent on the pandemic and the restrictions out there.

“Our bookings are solid…people want to come out with their events when they are able to,” Fowler said adding despite the uncertainty out there it all bodes well for the Exhibition as well as the local economy that enjoys the economic spinoffs whether it be for catering, hotel rooms, restaurants, gas stations and other local buisnesses.