Vivian Chui
Omineca Express
Are you ready to mark this summer with untamable bulls and ax-swinging lumberjacks?
New action-filled events for all are coming to town as the annual Nechako Exhibition and Fall Fair turns almost half a century old this weekend.
Mechanical bulls and West Coast lumberjack shows are the key new events, among many others, to watch out for this weekend, said Richard Wruth, co-chair of the exhibition.
Brand new to Vanderhoof are mechanical bulls, on which challengers will try to stay as long as possible while on-lookers cheer them on.
“Not too many people can ride it over eight seconds!” Wruth said.
They will stand ready for all teenagers and adults to try all day Saturday, while a mechanical calf may be available for the younger but no less energetic cowboys and cowgirls.
Another new addition to the fair lineup is the Traditional West Coast Lumberjack Show happening multiple times throughout the weekend, featuring four professional lumberjack athletes throwing axes and carving with chainsaws, among other logging feats.
“We’ve been talking about it and they are all over [the province], but we’re able to get them here this year,” said Wruth.
The exhibition will also play host, for the first time, to B.C.‘s largest beef show of the year, with 120 cattle in the lineup.
Other special events include heavy horse pulls, individually on Friday and in teams on Sunday.
Despite its great success last year, the Fall Fair Parade will be cancelled due to lack of volunteers for marshalling the parade, which follows the same route as its counterpart in Christmas, through downtown Vanderhoof.
More information can be found on www.nvesociety.com or in the 2015 Fall Fair Booklet distributed at various Vanderhoof locations.