As the rain starts to fall and the campfire ban is repealed it’s starting to feel a lot like the end of summer in the North Okanagan.
Of course another reminder is that school starts on Tuesday but that’s not the most recognizable sign of the changing of the seasons in these parts.
Why, it’s the Interior Provincial Exhibition, or Armstrong Fair to those who have lived in these parts for awhile now, and the 114th version of the event begins today and carries on until Sunday.
During a year that the city of Armstrong is celebrating its centennial it seems fitting to pay tribute to the fair that has been around even longer.
For 114 years people have been making their way to the fairgrounds to take in the entertainment, see the displays, witness the agricultural competitions and sample the food, not to mention see their friends and family along the way.
There’s a sense of community at the IPE that shines through every year, rain or otherwise.
And it doesn’t just happen overnight.
Some 450 volunteers put in more than 12,000 hours every year to pull off the five-day extravaganza, not to mention the staff and exhibitors and competitors and…..
So make sure you get out to Armstrong and enjoy the midway, the stampede, the games of chance, the music, the Iron Chef competition, the antique tractor show and shine, the Westcoast Lumberjack show, the 4-H competitions, kids world, the barn dance, the mini chuckwagon races, the parade, Team Xtreme….the list is virtually endless and appeals to literally all ages.
And ring in the new season the way it’s supposed to be done in these parts, at the IPE. Have fun one and all.
