'Back to normal a little bit:' Edmontonians flock to Summer Fun Midway at the Expo grounds in place of K-Days

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Large stuffed animals being hauled over a shoulder. Screams of excitement as a ride whips around a corner. Long lines to try some of the food that could be smelled from the parking lot.

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These were some of the sights and sounds at the Edmonton Exhibition Lands Saturday afternoon with the Summer Fun Midway in full swing.

Running from July 23-Aug. 1, the fair hosted by North American Midway Entertainment is operating outside the Edmonton Expo Centre in place of K-Days which was cancelled last month due to the limited timeline to prepare. The event is one of the largest in the city within the last 16 months as K-Days and other large-scale festivals were cancelled last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scooter Korek, vice president of client relations for the midway company, said he’s thrilled to see Edmontonians back on the grounds and enjoying the rides and all the fair has to offer, including food, games and entertainment through the Super Dogs and a motorcycle show. The pandemic has been hard on the organization, Korek said, as they are used to travelling and making people smile through the fairs that they were only able to host two of last summer in the United States.

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“We’re travelling people who put on big fairs, so we were kind of fish out of water and now we’re back in water again doing the thing that we do,” he said. “So far it’s been great. Yesterday was beyond our expectations so we’re off to a good start and we’re excited to be here for another nine days.”

Although Korek didn’t have attendance numbers for the first day and a half, he said people have been coming in droves and the response from the public has been great.

One of those attendees on Saturday was Mitch Shewchuk and his four-year-old daughter Brooklyn who arrived right when the fair opened at noon to beat the lines. Standing in line for a funhouse, Shewchuk said he was thrilled to see the smile on his daughter’s face being able to go on rides.

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“I’m happy for this. Kids get a mini experience to see what K-Days is like and they get to have fun on the rides and it’s fun for the parents to eat all the good food,” he said. “It feels great just to be back around people and back to normal a little bit.”

Masks aren’t required on site but are available for free and hand sanitizer is stationed around the park. To reduce touch points, attendees can purchase tickets and parking in advance online.

Cases creeping up

As a backdrop to the fair, the pandemic is still being fought inside the Expo Centre. The site is being used as a mass vaccination clinic until July 29 and as a COVID-19 testing site.

Active cases in the province have crept back up to 799 after falling below 600 last week. There were 173 new cases reported Friday, the most since June 10. The Edmonton Zone currently has 155 active cases with 25 people in hospital and 16 in intensive care.

duscook@postmedia.com

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