THUNDER BAY - For 127 years, the annual summer fair at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grounds has been delighting families, and this year was no different.
On Sunday, the CLE Family Fair wrapped up, and while attendance may have been down slightly from previous years, organizers are calling this year another success.
“After day one with the bad weather, the Midway was down and we were down, but we’ve come back very strong,” said CLE president, Al Law. “We may be down for the year from last year, but it has been really successful.”
Law expects the attendance will be close to 60,000 people over the course of five days, which is what the fair usually averages.
“Numbers is finances and that is really what we go by,” Law said. “There are a fair amount of people who get in free, but they spend on concessions and rides.”
Some of the highlights this year included the entertainment, which saw bands like Helix, Toronto, and Honeymoon Suite entertaining crowds.
“Honeymoon Suite was jammed,” Law said. “It was exceptional guitar work and piano work and there was a lot of positive feedback.”
But no summer fair would be complete without the rides and games, which Law said had people lining up throughout the weekend.
“The Midway is excellent,” he said. “We had two different rides that came in and the kids Midway we had two different rides. The Kid’s World expanded and the petting zoo is always popular. The kids just love playing with the animals.”
What makes this year another success is also a lack of security issues. Law said there were no reports of fights and families were lining up for rides after 11 p.m.
“Our injuries were down significantly,” added fair chair, Basil Lychowyd. “With the kids running around yesterday you get the scrapes and the bruises. We always look to make the fair safer.”
Leading up to the fair, organizers were concerned about possible issues arising with the collapsed Sports Dome on the CLE grounds. But Law said he did not hear of any problems or of anyone getting into the closed-off site.
“There’s always an issue when you have something that is not functional,” he said. “But we had security watch it pretty closely. When you get up to 60,000 people in five days, you deal with a lot of young individuals wanting to check things out. But we had security on the grounds and city police.”
With the 127th year in the books, it’s already time to start looking ahead to next year.
“We start planning tomorrow,” Law said. “We have a meeting with the Midway and talk about how to improve things.”
But that’s for tomorrow, there is still time to enjoy the fair today. The gates at the CLE Family Fair are open until midnight on Sunday and will close out the weekend with a performance by Toronto and a fireworks display to celebrate Canada’s 150 anniversary.
“The kids are enjoying themselves and we’ve got smiles on our faces and they got smiles on their faces, that’s what it’s all about,” Lychowyd said.
