Old classics will mix with new fun next week as the annual Prince Albert Summer Fair comes to town.
The 134th annual runs from Aug. 1-5, and is bringing in world-class entertainment to complement traditional livestock showings and a plethora of exhibition entries.
While the fair itself begins on the Tuesday, it kicks of with a parade at 7 p.m. on Monday, and finishes with a literal bang at the 11 p.m. fireworks show Saturday evening.
In the middle, there will be the midway, a petting zoo, a children’s pedal tractor pull, chariot and chuckwagon races, a demolition derby and more.
This year also marks the return of a grandstand performance, as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash tribute act CashBack are performing Saturday night at 7 p.m. The musical act consists of Dave and Debbie Norman.
One of the featured entertainment acts this year is the Nerveless Nocks Productions Thrill Show. The Nerveless Nocks are an eighth-generation circus family. The family performed at the Montreal World Expo in 1967, appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show alongside the Beatles and has performed for the Queen.
The Nocks are also no stranger to the Prince Albert Summer Fair.
“It’s a great show to have come to town,” said Linda Grimard, Exhibition Association president.
“Every year we try to get some big acts to come into the city. It’s good to have them back. We had them quite a few years ago. Everyone enjoyed them, so we’re bringing them back this year.”
The circus family will be performing three types of death-defying stunts.
For the motorcycle steel ball, Cyrus Nock and Bradley Coe will ride their motorcycles at high speed around the inside of a steel ball, with Angelina Nock standing in the middle.
The Wheel of Destiny is also making an appearance. The famous circus act sees a double-ended pendulum with two metal, circular openings at each end spin around high in the air. Acrobats perform tricks as the wheel spins.
The third act is a Nock family specialty.
“The sky-scraping sway pole – that’s an act my father invented,” Michelangelo Nock, Nerveless Nocks president and CEO said.
The pole stretches high in the sky, with a small ring on top performers use to perform dangerous stunts.
While the stunts may draw an audience, the fair is still an agricultural one at heart.
“The hall is full of all that art, photography, handicrafts and baking – you name it, it’s full for the whole week for people to come and look at,”
Grimard said.
“That’s where it started, with that and cattle and horses. It’s an agricultural fair. We’re still trying to keep that part going.”
For more on this story plase see the July 26 print edition of the Daily Herald
