Chestermere tipped its hat to its agricultural roots on Saturday, September 12, as the 37th annual Chestermere Country Fair and Rodeo brought families, volunteers, competitors and community organizations together for one of the city’s most enduring celebrations.
Presented by the Rocky View Chestermere Agricultural Society, the Country Fair is Chestermere’s oldest continuously held annual event. Once again, it transformed the Chestermere Recreation Centre and surrounding grounds into a lively gathering place filled with rodeo action, children’s activities, local vendors and familiar traditions.
The day began with the Country Fair Parade travelling north along West Chestermere Drive toward the recreation centre. Community organizations, businesses, sports teams and local residents helped launch the festivities with plenty of colour and hometown spirit.
Once the parade reached its destination, attention shifted to the many activities taking place inside and outside the recreation centre.
The rodeo remained one of the fair’s biggest attractions. Spectators watched young competitors test their skills in junior bull riding, while mutton bustin’ gave some of the youngest participants an opportunity to experience the excitement of the arena. Ladies Ranch Bronc riding also demonstrated the courage, balance and determination required to stay aboard a powerful bucking horse.
Charity Bull Riding added a community-minded purpose to the arena excitement. Local personalities and other adventurous participants climbed aboard in support of their chosen charities, proving that courage can be measured by more than the number of seconds spent in the saddle.
Beyond the rodeo arena, the fair offered activities for practically every age and interest.
The Kids Zone kept younger visitors busy with games, inflatable activities, pony rides and the Butterfield Acres petting zoo. Other attractions included a junior rodeo challenge, balloon creations, rope-making and opportunities for children to discover a little more about rural life.
The Harvest Market gave visitors a chance to browse handmade goods, locally produced items and unique creations from area vendors. Events such as the market provide small businesses and independent makers with valuable opportunities to meet customers while adding another layer of local character to the fair.
Inside, the Red Ribbon Competition celebrated the quieter—but no less impressive—skills found throughout the community. Baking, preserves, flowers, vegetables, handicrafts, fibre arts, quilting, photography and artwork were among the many entries placed on display.
The competition is a reminder that agricultural fairs have always been about more than livestock and rodeo. They are also places where neighbours proudly share what they have grown, baked, stitched, built or created.
The zucchini car races brought their usual combination of imagination and good-natured competition. With entrants turning garden produce into racing machines, the event continued one of the fair’s quirkiest and most-loved traditions.
Food was another important part of the day. The pancake breakfast offered an early start for fairgoers, while the Chestermere Whitecappers served their traditional pie and ice cream.
The Whitecappers expressed their appreciation to everyone who supported their Country Fair activities and to the volunteers who worked at their recent casino. They also thanked the Chestermere Mustangs Junior A hockey team for helping put away tables, chairs and signs following the pie-and-ice-cream event—a practical act of community service at the end of a busy day.
That willingness to lend a hand captures much of what makes the Country Fair special.
Large community events do not happen on their own. They depend on months of planning, generous sponsors and volunteers willing to set up displays, manage activities, direct visitors, serve food, supervise competitions and remain behind after the crowds have gone home.
For 37 years, the Chestermere Country Fair has evolved alongside the community it serves. Chestermere may have grown from a lakeside community into a rapidly expanding city, but the fair continues to create a place where longtime residents and newcomers can meet on common ground.
It gives children their first close-up encounters with farm animals, offers young riders their first taste of rodeo competition and provides local organizations with an opportunity to share their work. Most importantly, it gives the community a day to simply enjoy being together.
When the final tables were folded, the animals loaded and the last ribbons taken home, another chapter had been added to a tradition that has helped define Chestermere for generations.
The Country Fair may last only one day, but the volunteerism, neighbourliness and country spirit behind it remain part of Chestermere throughout the year.