Morden’s 58th Corn & Apple Festival wrapped with full streets, happy crowds, and a steady heartbeat of volunteer power. Festival chair Nathan Knight says this year’s edition “was a success” and, from the organizer’s seat, “probably the smoothest festival that I’ve seen happen since I started back in 2019.” He added that while evenings ran a touch lighter because of weather, “the daytime sure didn’t deter anybody… right up until closing on Sunday. The streets were packed. There was no parking to be found anywhere.”
A weekend built by many hands
Asked what it takes to pull off Manitoba’s largest street festival, Knight didn’t hesitate: “It really takes a whole community to come together to put this on… we have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that come out to make this happen each and every year.” He also tipped his hat to residents who show patience while downtown turns into a festival site for three days: “Sometimes even if people don’t volunteer, it just takes patience and understanding that we’re going to intrude on this space for three days. And it is a greater good for the community that a festival like this happens.” He credited a “great partner in the City of Morden” and “absolutely fantastic” corporate sponsors for rounding out the team effort.
Big crowds, big kindnesses
On scale alone, the numbers still impress: “When you take a city of 10,000 people and you turn that into 80,000 people… it’s challenging. It’s exciting… and it’s what makes it unique,” Knight said, recalling spotting even a Kansas licence plate on Stephen Street. What stuck with him most, though, were the small moments, like neighbours stepping in without being asked: “If someone needs help… someone will step up and say, I’ll do it. I’ll help you… We’ve had two or three people come to the office today saying, do you need help cleaning up? Yes. We do.”
The flavour of Corn & Apple
Some festival traditions never fade, especially the long, smiling lines for free hot corn and cold apple juice. Knight laughed at the devotion: “I don’t understand it myself… I appreciate it, and I’m amazed by it… I’m sure some people grab their cob of corn and they eat it while they’re in line for the second one and they just… go till they’re full. And we want that.”
From the midway glow and bustling street vendors to the parade, craft tents & Artisan Alley, Show & Shine in Morden Park, and a full slate of main-stage and youth-stage performances, the weekend delivered the classic downtown experience that has made Corn & Apple a draw for tens of thousands each August.
What’s next
After teardown, Knight says the pause won’t last long: “We’ll start planning in about six weeks.” Until then, the memory that lingers is simple and very Morden; people looking out for each other, pitching in, and making room for joy on Stephen Street.