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Thousands of visitors are thronging downtown for Sidewalk Days, where favourites like Deja Vu Cafe's Duel Zone and the children's bouncy houses are back — and so are the mini doughnuts, cotton candy, axe throwing, and local vendors of every variety stretching from Manitoba to Ross.
Sidewalk Days 2025 is well underway in Moose Jaw, drawing both locals and plenty of people from away to our downtown for the city's biggest summer festival. The festival closes at 8 p.m. Friday, re-opening Saturday at 10 a.m., and wrapping up completely at 5 p.m.
The event mixes family activities with live music, food trucks, and community booths from all corners of the city. There are even provincial organizations coming down to represent.
But for eight-year-old Victoria Bourassa, the day started with sweet, sweet sugar. Asked what she was eating, she answered confidently, “Cotton candy! Delicious!"
And the activity highlight? “The bouncy houses!”
Laughing, Victoria's dad Jesse said, "Honestly, it's been great. Lots to do, lots to see, lots to eat, and the weather's been amazing."
Amanda came from Aylesbury with her partner, making the drive just for Sidewalk Days. She said they're having a fun time and looking forward to checking out more of the shopping.
“We really just got here, but we did some axe throwing, which was pretty cool. We'll get some food soon, and some mini doughnuts — can’t go wrong there.”
Connie Shi, who recently moved to Moose Jaw with her husband and daughter, said it was their first time at the festival.
“It’s so lucky for us to have a holiday like this and be able to come down and meet so many people," she said. “Everyone in Moose Jaw is quite nice and very kind to us, and we have friends who have a booth set up. We're having a great day."
Local vendor booths saw plenty of foot traffic Friday morning, with visitors winding up and down the core to check out the handmade goods, sweets, and sidewalk sales.
Ken and Tracy Luciak were slowly making their way north to make sure they got a sense of everything, before turning back to shop on the return.
“It's been a lot of fun going up Main Street and checking out all the different vendors. Beautiful day for it too," Ken said. "We're just doing the walk all the way up to Ross and then we'll come back. We're actually looking for some places that might have some gluten-free offerings and I think I saw one back there, so we'll check it out."
Tracy noted she was grateful for the 25-degree weather and gentle breeze, a big change from Thursday's 35+, heavy heat.
Charity Glass, helping staff the Festival of Words booth outside the Moose Jaw Centre for Arts & Culture, said it’s been heartening to see so many people drop by to talk about books in the middle of the city’s busiest event.
“There’s been lots of traffic — meeting lots of people,” she said. “It’s really great to see how many people are interested in reading at our booth. And it’s just been neat to watch people check everything out. It's a festival atmosphere, and everyone is enjoying themselves.”
The festival continues through Saturday evening, with local music, more activities, and a full downtown closure in effect until 5 p.m. Sidewalk Days 2025 includes 30 food vendors, 215 vendors in total, and about 50 volunteers will be helping to make the event happen. It brought about 22,000 people out in 2024.
More at discovermoosejaw.com.
