The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon brought out the crowds last week.
Their pinnacle event, The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair (RMWF), is held annually during Manitoba’s March spring break. A tourism highlight in Western Canada, the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is one of Western Canada’s largest agricultural events and the largest annual event to be held in Brandon, Manitoba.
The six-day show at the Keystone Centre featured horses, other livestock, family entertainment and children’s activities not to mention all the fair food.
Clint Swain is a board member with the Provincial Exhibition and co-chair of the winter fair. “It went well and out numbers look good. We’re still crunching to get a final figure, but we were up anywhere from 10 to 12 per cent. We’re projecting a final attendance figure of around 75,000 to 80,000 visitors through the doors last week at the Keystone Centre.”
Organizers credit the nice weather, a few show changes and a desire to get back out to a huge event as reasons for the jump in attendance. Swain said changes in the Manitoba Room proved popular with fair goers.
“Absolutely it went over really well, and that room was jammed packed from when the fair opened to when it closed. That’s something we’ll take back to our committee and look for ways to further enhancing the experience because it bridges the gap between agriculture and the city. We’re excited to see what we can do with that space next year,” said Swain.
On the commercial side of the fair board members will take a look at how they can attract more exhibitors in 2024. “We had some good conversations with the trade show vendors. We’re looking to rebuild it and we want to get back to where we were before with the trade show. This year many vendors couldn’t find people to work the booth at the fair all week. They’re hoping to have staff levels built back up and want to be back at the fair next year.”