Merrittonians and visiting Pro Rodeo attendees once again had the opportunity to visit the Merritt Exhibition Grounds for the annual Nicola Valley Fall Fair this Labour Day weekend, with organizers bringing back the beloved annual event after a COVID-19 induced two year hiatus.
Taking place at the Fall Fair buildings next to the Nicola Valley’s rodeo grounds, the two day event encourages interest in the agricultural industry, in particular improving the quality of agricultural and other products. While this year’s return didn’t see record breaking attendance, organizers were pleased with the quality of the entries.
??“We’re an old fashion fair, we have canning, baking, photography, and animals outside, so we don’t have a lot of video games and things like that,” said Fall Fair Coordinator Kathy Reimer.
“We’re more agriculturally geared. We want to encourage people to do the canning and all those things that we used to do. With COVID, we’ve had a lot more people interested in doing those types of things.”
Entries were made by a number of local artisans and organizations in the week leading up to the Fall Fair, and were then adjudicated by a panel of volunteers before public viewing began. The categories are numerous and vary widely in scope, including canning, baking, fruits and vegetables, homecrafts, photography, livestock, and many more.
The Fall Fair is one of many events that took place as a part of the 2022 Nicola Valley Pro Rodeo weekend. This Labour Day weekend, rodeo goers enjoyed not only the rodeo, but a rodeo dance in support of the Ty Pozzobon Foundation, the Fall Fair, as street market downtown, and a Saturday morning pancake breakfast at Spirit Square.
2022 Nicola Valley Fall Fair by Marius Auer
For more information on the Nicola Valley Fall Fair, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nicolavalleyfallfair.
