Children have a total blast at Winter Fair

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This article was published 28/03/2024 (769 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was standing room only amid deafening cheers from kids of all ages in the Keystone Centre amphitheatre during Family Day performances at Brandon’s Royal Manitoba Winter Fair.

Entertainment is offered throughout the Keystone Centre — with a dedicated children’s area inside the Manitoba Room, complete with a merry-go-round, bouncy castle and magic show — but the biggest and loudest crowds came for back-to-back shows with Doodles the Clown and Fred Penner.

Doodles the Clown is a regular performer at the Winter Fair. For each performance, he arms his audience with three-foot-long balloons while telling stories to music and performing magic tricks.

“This is absolutely the best. Where else can I go where grandparents and parents will come up to me and say they used to see me when they were little. It’s the best feeling in the world,” Doodles said.

“I love following Doodles,” said Penner backstage before his show.

“But there is a trick — I bring the energy down a bit, so everyone can focus and participate in the songs. I’m not quite as high energy as Doodles. Nothing is as high energy as he is,” Penner added, laughing.

Lorna Hayward from Brandon said she has seen Penner perform “more times than I can count,” and laughed when her daughter teased her about getting a “little teary-eyed.”

“I’m 67, so I grew up watching him on television and then my husband and I took our daughter to see him when he was on tour, and now here we are with my grandkids. And they have looks of wonder on their faces. It takes me back,” Hayward said.

This is the fifth time Penner has been to the Winter Fair.

“I love Brandon,” he said.

Penner’s dad was in the army and at one time was stationed at Canadian Forces Base Shilo. And his first cousin, Garry Winters, was Brandon’s fire chief for “years and years.”

“I’m familiar with this part of the land, so I love this,” Penner said. “I scan the audience and I’ll pick up faces along the way to make sure everyone feels seen and part of the process. And the delight is after the fact when the families share songs or stories about the show.”

While waiting in line to get into the amphitheatre, Norm Byard from Winnipeg said this was the first time he, his wife and three kids have been to the Winter Fair.

“And they’ve had a blast,” Byard said, nodding to his kids. “This whole day seems to be dedicated to us as a family — there is so much to do,” Byard said.

The schedule of entertainers changes from day to day, but there are certain shows that rotate every few hours.

This is also the first time in Brandon for Amanda Panda from Hula Hoops Circus, and she said the crowds have been “super fun.”

“I’m kind of the mindset, it should be kids’ day 365 (days a year),” Amanda Panda said. “I definitely have the most fun at children’s events with lots of silly games and cool hoops, juggling and spinning plates. My show is very colourful. Rainbow is my favorite colour,” she said.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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