The Niverville Olde Tyme Country Fair is back. After two years of pandemic-related cancellations, the highlight of Niverville’s summer is almost here.
This year, due to COVID-19, the fair will be running a more or less cashless event for both admission and liquor sales. The admission gate setup will be much like usual—with three gates on the west end of Main Street by the old post office and three gates on the east end by Wiens Furniture—but of the three gates on each side, two will be reserved for customers with debit cards (no credit cards), and only one will be open for cash.
Online tickets will be redeemable at the debit card booths. These booths will be clearly marked.
Advance tickets will be available at Niverville Bigway on Thursday, June 9 from 5:00 p.m. until close and on Friday, June 10, from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Online tickets can be redeemed at Bigway as well.
The fun will start at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 10 when the gates open. At that time, the midway, Kids Zone, street market, and liquor sales will all open. Throughout the evening, there will be various shows and events to check out, and at 9:15 p.m. Niverville’s own Catie St. Germain will perform at the TransCanada Brewing Beer Gardens.
At 10:15 p.m. and 11:15 p.m., Big Top Radio will perform their high-energy show on the Niverville Credit Union Main Stage. And in between, at 11:00 p.m., blackout fireworks will be set off from the Niverville Elementary School playground. Liquor sales will close at 12:30 a.m.
There has been one notable change to Friday evening’s festivities that fairgoers should be aware of: the Friday food fest will not take place.
“It is a big job on a normal year, but unfortunately it was a very difficult task to take on logistically with COVID-19, sanitation, safety, volunteers, etc.” says Dustin Krahn, general manager of the Niverville Olde Tyme Country Fair. “We have focused on bringing in more great entertainment and a very busy schedule in lieu of this absence, though, and hope people understand the changes. There will be food vendors on site and we also encourage people to support them.”
On Saturday morning, you can get up and head to the Niverville Credit Union parking lot for the Niverville Firefighter Pancake Breakfast at 8:00 a.m. The breakfast is sponsored by Niverville Chicken Chef and Negash Coffee. Although the breakfast is free, donations to the Niverville Fire Department are gratefully accepted. In case of inclement weather, the breakfast would move to the Beer Gardens tent.
Plan to take a power nap, then get back to the NCU parking lot at lunchtime for the Niverville Credit Union barbecue. Free hot dogs and canned drinks will be available here from 11:00 a.m. until noon.
Once you’re full of delicious food, you can find a place to settle into your lawn chair and enjoy the parade, which begins at 12:00. Many floats will be tossing candy for the kids, and all the candy will be peanut-free.
An addition to this year’s parade will be the Emily Fast Memorial Bike Parade.
“For many decades, Emily Fast kicked off the Niverville Fair parade by encouraging the youngsters to come out with decorated bikes and costumes,” says Krahn. “This always was the lead of the parade and is a big memory for a lot of people who grew up here and attended the fair in the early years. To honour her, the Fast ladies will be continuing that tradition.”
Registration for the bike parade is free and prizes will be given out to all the participants.
The midway and street market will also open at noon, with the Kids Zone following at 1:00 p.m. Liquor sales will begin at 2:00 p.m.
One note about the Kids Zone: participants this year will be given a free kiddie ride at the midway.
A few other highlights to mention about this year’s event include Double Vision Twin Magic & Comedy. Double Vision is a unique show featuring identical twins who will be performing stage shows and roaming the streets.
The Street Circus will be another highlight. Their website says they are “everything spectacular about going to a modern circus and everything fun and spontaneous about street performing!”
Another event to check out is the Fabulous Feud game show. This is a game played by two teams answering survey questions which will be delivered on a huge game screen. Teams will score points based on how many people came up with the same answers as the 100 people who were previously surveyed. Think: Family Feud.
At 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night, Manitoba’s own Emma Peterson will take to the main stage, followed by The Reklaws as headliners at 9:30 p.m.
“All in all, there are a few changes, but it will still be a very busy, entertaining, and memorable weekend,” Krahn says. “There were a lot of new challenges—and obviously rising prices, as everyone is accustomed to these days—but the business community and fair sponsors were absolutely incredible and really stepped up for the event yet again. I cannot encourage people enough to take a browse through our sponsors and make sure to thank them and acknowledge all that they do for us! We are very happy that at the end of the day we managed to add a lot of new great entertainment, while also keeping the price for attendance the same and not raising costs for anyone.”
