PENHOLD – It keeps growing bigger and better.
The Town of Penhold welcomed dozens of families for its annual Fall Festival at the Penhold Regional Multiplex Sept. 7 to 9.
“We’ve been planning (for the fall festival) since October of last year,” said Melanie Willerth, events and communications coordinator for the town. “We’ve got about 12 different community groups on board volunteering throughout the weekend, helping sell tickets, helping with the bouncy castles, the barbecue and the kids' corner.”
Town staff and Penhold council members were also out supporting the event.
“We about doubled our Friday night attendance from last year,” said Willerth. “This year we had about 1,000 people in the (multiplex) and today (Saturday) we’ve also got huge crowds, which is awesome.”
The annual event included midway rides, games, food trucks, a hockey tournament, family skate, kids' corner, a barbecue, pancake breakfast, a parade, fireworks and several other features.
“Hundreds of people came through. It was a great (Friday) night and it was a really good kickoff to the fall festival,” said Mike Yargeau, Penhold mayor. “The rides were going, we had a craft beer and wine festival. It was by far our best attended Friday night event. We had a band playing, bouncy castles for the kids and we had a lot of people using the campground as well,” he added.
The event has been a tradition in Penhold for several years he noted, and attracts hundreds of families each September.
“Today (Saturday), the weather held out but it’s been another great day,” said Yargeau. “A ton of families from all over Central Alberta come to take part in the fall festival.
“It’s such a great event every year,” Yargeau added.
The Blain family from Red Deer was one of many out enjoying the weekend.
“We came last year for the first time. We had to come back,” said Mark Blain.
“We love the prices and all the family activities for the young kids,” added his wife Christina. “It’s really nice to have such a small town put on a festival like this and bring other people and communities into it.”
