The rescheduled Prince Albert Downtown Street Fair was a success as crowds packed Central Avenue on Saturday, July 19.
The Street Fair was initially scheduled for June 14, but inclement weather forced the Prince Albert Downtown Business Improvement District (PADBID) to postpone. PADBID executive director Rhonda Trusty was very happy with how the day unfolded.
“I was very pleased with the amount of vendors that were able to join us and the response from the community has just been so overwhelming,” Trusty said. “I was just feeling very blessed to see so many people out enjoying the community and the downtown.”
The weather was in PADBID’s favour this time around, with temperatures peaking at 22 C in the afternoon.
“The weather cooperated,” Trusty said. “We were blessed. No rain, limited smoke, overcast to some degree, light breeze. Overall, it was a very nice day.”
She said the whole cancellation and re-booking was a challenge and a tough decision to make.
“I did not make it lightly, but with the lightning and severe thunderstorms and the fact that it was raining, downpouring, when I woke up that morning, it was the best decision at that point in time,” Trusty said.
Overall Trusty was pleased with the Street Fair and the way the event was received.
“Today was wonderful. People love Street Fair. It’s one of our most beloved events in the community, and this year it was our 20th anniversary, which is a feather in our cap that we’ve been able to sustain it for this long.”
There were sustained excellent crowds all day for Street Fair that eventually slowed down around the time of the end of the event which Trusty called amazing.
The Prince Albert Fire Department and their fire truck was a popular spot during the 20th Annual Street Fair on Saturday.
Fiddlers perform by the Prince Albert Baptist Church booth during the 20th Annual Street Fair on Saturday.
She pointed to the opening of the event as a highlight.
“We always start off street fair with our procession with myself leading and then the Highlander Pipes and Drums, the Performing Arts Warehouse always joins in. We had our jugglers joining in with the unicycle and the jugglers and Navy Cadets joined us as well, so it was all good,” she said.
She also pointed to the work that went into putting together an entirely new set of musicians on the steps of City Hall.
“I would like to also thank Mike Zaparaniuk for putting together a great lineup. Unfortunately, some of the previous musicians were not able to attend and Mike pulled it out of the hat and was able to bring us a very good show musically, so I want to thank him,” she said.
Despite the challenges Trusty said that PADBID’s executive was behind her.
“I’d like to thank my Board of Directors for their support. They are also a part of the decision-making process and when I came back to them with the new date, they were very supportive and I just want to publicly thank them for their continued support of my decisions,” Trusty said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
