Royal Manitoba Winter Fair goes virtual

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This article was published 25/03/2021 (1867 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While Brandonites won’t be able to get their fill of fair food and horse jumping at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair next week, the spirit of the fair will go on virtually.

The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba is holding a “virtual fair,” which kicks off with a drive-thru breakfast on Saturday morning at 1200 13th St. and continues through the dates the in-person event would have been held.

Each day from March 29 to April 3 has a different theme, just like when the fair is held in person, said Provincial Exhibition board president Greg Crisanti.

The week kicks off with Monday as heroes day, when people are encouraged to wear red and Tuesday is 4-H day, when people are encouraged to wear green.

“Our virtual fair committee is trying to keep a piece of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair alive or in everyone’s memories,” Cristanti said.

“We’re really excited to bring a little bit of the theme days virtually while we’re celebrating the Winter Fair at home this year.”

The virtual fair also includes 50/50 ticket sales, an online auction and other events to support the Provincial Exhibition.

People can post photos of themselves on social media each day to participate in the fair fun virtually and keep the spirit going, he said.

Organizers announced in November they cancelled plans for the 2021 event due to the pandemic. The 2020 version of the event was also cancelled only weeks before it was set to be held.

While the Provincial Exhibition was able to hold some in-person activities in the fall with the Market at the Dome, Crisanti said that isn’t currently possible with code red restrictions in place.

“We are ready … when restrictions change, we hope to see Market at the Dome back or some sort of in-person live event,” he said.

The people behind the Provincial Exhibition have spent the last year thinking outside the box to keep the organization going and raise money for its future.

“I couldn’t be more happy with the success and the hard work they’ve done last year and to kick this off of round two of the pandemic. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We still have a good marathon to run here, but we’re not giving up and I’m very proud of the success we’ve had so far,” he said.

While the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is cancelled for the second year in a row, Crisanti said an event in the summer isn’t entirely out of the question. The board would love to hold something, but that depends entirely on provincial restrictions.

“June is sneaking up on us pretty close, and I’m highly doubtful a Summer Fair would be running in June just with restrictions,” he said.

“But anything is possible and we’ll just wait it out. If it’s not June maybe it’s something we can postpone later on.”

Cristanti said he hopes people can still have some fun with the virtual event this year and can still celebrate the fair.

“We know there are lots of stories there and everyone has a memory of our event. This is just to help us celebrate fair week in a different outlook for 2021 … we hope to be back in person and seeing everybody at our 2022 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair.”

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