What’s not to love about blue skies, a riverfront view from the Trail Esplanade, and cheerful visitors to the midway?
“This is our first out-of-town venue for us, so everybody is really pumped to come up here,” says Brenda Medeiros, owner of Shooting Star Amusements along with her husband Joe.
“And we love it up here. The people treat our staff very kindly, the hotel is great to us, even people in the bakery know who we are, so what’s not to love?”
This is the fifth year Shooting Star has brought carnival games and 17 midway rides to Trail.
While there’s been a few challenges – namely the significant lay-out change in the south end of town with the Riverfront Centre build as well as the redevelopment of vacant Esplanade lots and subsequent parking re-shuffle – it’s all in a days work for the Langley-based couple.
“Quite a bit has changed on the grounds down here, so it’s kind of like putting a puzzle together,” Brenda said. “It’s not ideal the way the flow will be, but you’d hate to see the event cancelled, so you just kind of make it work. And the food people are really happy, it’s a great location to sit right by the river and enjoy a meal.”
To keep the midway up and running for Silver City Days, the Medeiros’ employ around 35 people, including local hands.
“We have people here who have worked for us year after year,” Brenda explained. “Which is nice, and our staff stays in hotels, and of course, eats here, so we try our best to support the community too,” she added.
“When you are a smaller company you have to try way harder, we don’t have 100 rides to bring and they wouldn’t fit anyway, but we love coming up here and I think, as a community, this is a great event.”
As far as dollar-value, ticket prices haven’t increased in a number of years. The cost of a daily wristband, however, is up slightly at $40. This $5 bump reflects a trend pretty much anyone living in B.C. can attest to right now.
“We started seeing this massive increase in fuel costs,” Brenda said. “It cost $16,000 just to bring the carnival to this town and go back (to the coast). And that’s just the fuel.”
The best deal remains the wristbands, she advises.
“At $40, there is still good value for 12 hours of entertainment,” Brenda said. “But if it’s super busy and the rides are lined up, you know you’re going to wait. So I think the best way to do the carnival and get your best money’s worth, is to come on the weekdays, come earlier, and get all the rides in that you can.”
Midway hours are 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. today, then 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Saturday, and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Of note, is that each ride has different height requirements, which are posted at the attraction. Children can be measured at each ride or at the ticket booth.
