Popular Boissevain bash back on the street in September

By Wendy King

Small towns go big when it comes to a party and Boissevain is prepping for a bash of their own.

The sixth annual Boissevain Street Fest takes place on Saturday, Sept. 12 and kicks off the day with town-wide garage sales and a soapbox derby. The town festival was inaugurated in 2020 during the pandemic.

“Street Fest started as an outdoor celebration, a way that our community could come together to celebrate and see your friends and neighbours and showcase our local eateries, our shops, our small businesses, local artists, and even service groups,” said Melissa Perkins, executive assistant at the Municipality of Boissevain–Morton office.

The event, she said, continues to grow with more events and more participation from local groups.

“We’re a small community but we’re very fortunate to have everything here in terms of the local eateries and specialties, small businesses, the services, everything here on site. We’ve got a ton of talented local artists here. So for a small rural community, there’s just a lot to celebrate and showcase,” Perkins said.

The fair has a “good old-fashioned fair vibe” Perkins said, and includes traditional events like a pie-eating contest, jelly bean counting, and lots of free things to share.

“This is something that I feel is really special with our event. We have local businesses handing out carnival treats for free each year. Boundary Co-op is usually on site handing out popcorn, always a big hit. You can smell the fresh popcorn popping up and down the street and it’s fantastic!”

The Boissevain Youth Group will be onsite fundraising for mission trips with varieties of fresh squeezed lemonade, dirty sodas and customized mini cakes that offer choices of cake, icing, drizzle, and toppings. Local restaurants feature menu specials. Westman Animal Rescue returns with their barbecue lunch with hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, drinks.

The Ag Society beer garden is concert-adjacent. The outdoor stage is at the intersection of South Railway and Broadway. Onstage entertainment features vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Lyle Baldwin, a regional favourite.

“He puts on a great show for the afternoon and then an old-time dance to go along with his performance and, for the evening concert, our headliner is 8-Track Shuffle. They’ve got some nice local ties here for us with Mike Lamb in that band,” Perkins said.

Picnic tables and other seating is set up although blankets and lawn chairs are welcome. The concert is for all ages with space for dancing. Other don’t-miss events include the Get Local Art Show and the vendor market.

“I’d say our biggest sidewalk sale event of the year happens in conjunction with Street Fest. When you think ‘small town,’ you don’t think that there’s a lot of shopping, but you would be surprised because our local businesses carry just so many different types of wares and they always have some great deals — it’s definitely worth checking out!”

The community bingo is a popular all-ages event.

“It takes place out of our community center, still within that downtown area. We have everyone from families with young kids through to seniors. It’s become a big hit,” Perkins said.

The indoor movie matinee which is still to be finalized is also free. The Kids Club Zone is also in the works with face painting and crafts.

“We’re just in the process of finalizing a kids’ show, but we will have a craft-and-create station for them in addition to the carnival and the bouncy castles. We usually have the Kids Zone from about 12 to 4 to align with the soapbox derby wrapping up because there’s a lot of kids in the soapbox derby,” she said.

In the works are “speed station” games like hockey and basketball where scores will be tracked with a leaderboard and prizes for best times. A downtown scavenger hunt is planned with competitors working in teams to find clues scattered throughout downtown to be entered to win a Prime Pack.

“We have this event for our community, but we really welcome visitors and over the years we’ve definitely grown in the amount of visitors coming from outside of our community and outside our region to this event as an attraction.”

She adds that they’ve had people from all over the province and they are meeting more visitors from the United States.

“We’re 15 minutes from the International Peace Gardens and that’s a huge international attraction. Last year, there were people that planned on driving through, but they saw the tents and all the activities and they ended up staying for the entire day.”

Everyone is encouraged to head out to Boissevain and spend a beautiful fall day at Street Fest.

“We have something for everyone and it’s just a great way to experience our town and the wonderful people we have here. So many different local service groups and clubs make this event what it is, and it just really showcases what a gem of a community we have here.”

The Boissevain Street Fest takes place Sept. 12 starting at 9 a.m. Find details and links to social media at boissevain.ca/visitors/street-fest/.

Admission is free.

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