North Thompson Fall Fair & Rodeo

Parking spaces were at a premium as numerous visitors flocked to the 57th Annual North Thompson Fall Fair and Rodeo (NTFFRA).The town of Barriere rocked to the beat of a good old fashioned fair while temperatures stayed in the 30’s and visitors thoroughly enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of the valley’s most popular event held over the Labour Day weekend.
“We lost our midway this year due to scheduling conflicts with the amusement company,” said NTFFRA president Donna Kibble, “It didn’t hold us back though. I think this was the best fair ever.”
Kibble and her association came through with flying colours. They turned the fair grounds into a decorated display of agriculture and fun,and they turned the empty spaces left by the vanished midway into first class entertainment for children and adults during the three day event.
The large addition of a 20 x 60 foot tent called the Showcase of Agriculture easily drew fair goers in to learn about the products and foods that agriculture provides for everyday living. Children had the large Look and Learn tent to try their hand at numerous games, hay scrambles, colouring books and the making of butter from cream.
A woodworking tent showed kids how to make a wooden planter and a petting zoo kept the little ones enthralled.
Kids could milk a plywood cow, compete in a children’s parade, interact with numerous clowns and children’s entertainers, or see who could win the watermelon eating contest.
The folks at the forestry display distributed 1,000 tree seedlings to interested young fair goers. Laser tag, bouncy castle, super slide and a mechanical bull supplied active entertainment for all ages and this years enlarged companion garden supplied a quiet green space with a shaded area for cooling down.
The BCRA rodeo saw standing room only on Saturday afternoon and organizer Dick Ross noted this years event had the largest number of competitors to date.
Saturdays parade surprised everyone when the sound of drums and bagpipes filled the air. Parade Marshall Ken Beharrel had kept the best secret in town – the Kamloops Pipe Band.
“It is so wonderful to have a band back in the parade,” said a Barriere parade spectator, “It’s been too long away.”
Local entries in the parade were numerous, although several local commercial floats were missed this year. Two floats attended from Hinton, Alberta, and several from Kamloops.
Cowboy poet Mike Puhallo appeared on the outdoor stage along with a large line-up of cowboy and local musicians.
The concessionaire for Lemon Heaven stated they squeezed the juice from over 3,000 fresh lemons to keep the lemonade flowing.
Winner of the “Count How Many Sheep are on the Grounds Contest” was Paul Dodding with a guess of 666, the closest to the actual number
of 961 live, drawn or constructed sheep.
MP Betty Hinton rode in the parade and greeted fair goers in her speech during the opening ceremonies.
MLA Kevin Krueger rode in the parade and told the crowd during pening ceremonies, “This is the best fair anywhere. The effort that the NTFFRA and the town of Barriere make benefits the whole of the North
Thompson valley. Everyone should be proud of this fair and its contribution to the valley.”