Does an intense memory of the recent Pan Am and Paralympic Games leave you with a restless pang for international competition?
Then why not whet that appetite by visiting Barkerville Historic Town & Park on Labour Day (Sept. 7)?
The National Historic Site of Canada’s 12th Annual Williams Creek Sports Day and Goldfield Bakery Pie Eating Contest will competitively squeeze out the last drops of summer with one more chance to taste victory — literally and figuratively.
From noon to 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 7, British Columbia’s largest Gold Rush heritage attraction will offer enthusiastic attendees more than a dozen different types of family activities and games, including the Broad Jump, Funny Face contest, Cracker-Eating Whistle Races, a 10-pound Hammer Toss, Greasy Pole Climb, Tug o’ War, and Ladies’ Egg and Spoon Race.
At 4:15 p.m., Barkerville’s Goldfield Bakery will present its celebrated annual Pie-Eating Contest, which challenges children and adults from all over the province to compete for the coveted title of “fastest handless pie-eater in the West.”
“You haven’t seen gastronomic joy until you’ve seen two dozen kids covered in banana-cream pie filling,” says Carleigh Drew, Barkerville’s marketing, products and activities officer.
“The Goldfield Bakery Pie Eating Contest is a beloved Barkerville tradition, and we’re confident that this year’s winner will be the fastest ever.”
As a special treat this year, Barkerville’s Chinatown interpretation program is jumping in on the fun. From 3:30 to 4 p.m., nestled between all the games and desserts, the first life-sized, live-action dramatization of a Chinese Chess game in North American history will take place on the streets of Barkerville. Utilizing a hand-crafted chess board of human proportions, Barkerville’s cast of unique historical characters will recount the tale of a great battle between two infamous Chinese armies that serves as the mythology behind the game of Xiangqi (more commonly known as Chinese Chess). Spectators are most welcome, and can expect to learn the rules of the Chinese Chess while witnessing game-play of epic-proportions.
For more information on Barkerville’s 12th Annual Williams Creek Sports Day and Goldfield Bakery Pie Eating Contest, or any of Barkerville’s 2015 special events, please visit www.barkerville.ca.
