For the first time since 2006, the Summerland Action Festival will include a midway this year.
Pat Bell, chair of the Action Festival board, said the board has made an agreement with West Coast Amusements.
“This gives the teens and pre-teens something to do that’s a little more exciting for them,” he said.
With the loss of the midway, the festival saw changes in the people attending, especially in Memorial Park.
“We want to attract as many different age groups as possible,” he said.
The midway will be similar in size and scope to a similar midway attraction in Penticton near the beginning of this month.
The previous midway attractions were from a company which was set up to provide more rides than Summerland could accommodate, Bell said.
As a result, when an opportunity became available for the midway to provide its amusements at a larger venue, the Summerland service was discontinued.
“We’ve been looking ever since to get someone back,” Bell said. “We were finally able to get someone who can come up here.”
The Action Festival runs from June 6 to 8. It includes a 72-team slo-pitch tournament, the Giant’s Head Run, the Man of Steel Triathlon, a parade and plenty of weekend entertainment.
The festival has been a Summerland tradition for the past 31 years.
In past years, attendance at the festival has been around 15,000 people.
