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The Saskatoon Ex is will bring thousands of people into Prairieland Park in the coming days.
From Thursday to August 7, visitors will be treated to classic carnival rides, games and various other types of midway entertainment. The exhibition will be open from noon until midnight each day.
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Peter Jelenski, manager of signature events for Prairieland Park, said this year’s event is going to have a bigger footprint.
“Our midway is expanding by a significant amount. They’re going to bring in probably what we anticipate to be about 15 to 20 different additional rides this year,” Jelenski explained.
“In the past, we (had) the ability to do 24,000 rides per hour. We’re upping that this year to 36,000, so we’re very excited about the new rides and bigger rides.”
Jelenski said he hopes adding more rides will lead to shorter lines.
He said there will be plenty of food options available for visitors to try at the exhibition.
“We have our traditional fair foods that are there every year – your corn dogs and foot-long hot dogs – all that kind of stuff,” Jelenski said.
“The quality of the food has definitely gone up, and there’s really a strong ethnic component to it. There’s Vietnamese, East Indian and a lot of influences like that.”
He said there will also be some unique foods for guests to try as well.
“The one I’m actually really excited about is called the cowboy candy mango soft serve. It’s a mango lassi with incredibly hot spices and jalapenos on it. It’s the one that’s top of my list,” Jelenski said.
“We’ve got a product called the Seattle hot dog, which is nice and spicy – lots of jalapenos on that – and something that’s brand new called waffle pops. It’s a crunchy dough or waffle on a stick that’s dipped in all sorts of great candy goodness.”
Along with the food and the rides, there will also be concerts at the SaskTel Grandstand almost every night.
Metric will kick things off on Thursday, followed by High Valley on Friday, Loverboy on Saturday, Smash Mouth on Monday, Corb Lund on Tuesday, TLC on Wednesday and a performance by the Sheepdogs on Thursday.
All of the concerts start at 8:30 p.m., and a demolition derby is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m. in lieu of the concert.
Tight security
Because of multiple bear spray incidents during past events, staff members have been working hard to beef up security this year.
Patrick Barbar is the head of security for the event. He said over the past two years, they’ve made big strides when it comes to keeping people safe, including more security at the gates.
“We have seen, statistically, a very sharp decrease in instances involving bear spray and other weapons,” Barbar said.
“Although nobody can guarantee anything, especially when you’re hosting the largest event in Saskatoon… we’re very confident that these measures will help make the ex the family friendly, safe event that we want it to be,” he added.
Sharp items like scissors, utility knives and pocket knives are banned from the exhibition grounds, along with alcohol, cannabis and other intoxicants. Bear spray and dog repellent are also banned.
Parade starts at 10 a.m. on Wednesday
Before the exhibition opens on Thursday, people in Saskatoon will be treated to the annual parade downtown on Wednesday morning.
Jelenski said he’s hoping for a good turnout.
“The parade is at 10 a.m. We hosted it for the first time after the pandemic last year,” he said.
“This year, we’re very excited. We’ve got over 60 entries this year running down Spadina, and it’s actually gonna look like a real parade this year. It’s well over a kilometre in length. The city has really stepped up, and a lot of great organizations have come out and are going to be participating in it.”
The parade will start at 24th Street and Spadina Crescent East, making its way west on 24th Street to Fourth Avenue before turning south onto Fourth and proceeding to 20th Street. The route then turns east on 20th and heads back to Spadina, before turning north to return to the starting point.
The City of Saskatoon said the parade route will be closed to traffic between 5:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
“Detour signs will be in place to guide motorists around the event area,” the city said in a statement.
“Drivers are reminded to drive carefully and watch for participants.”
The city is also offering free transit service for those with an exhibition Superpass or wristband. Details, and information on the special exhibition transit routes can be found on the city’s website.
–with files from 650 CKOM’s Will Mandzuk
