INNISFAIL – Despite brief heavy rainfall on opening day Jamie Bergen had plenty of reasons to celebrate following the third annual Innisfail Fall Festival.
The overall turnout on Sept. 14 and 15 was spectacular, just like the jaw-dropping entries at the event’s marquee scarecrow attraction along Scarecrow Lane.
“It's hard to count people coming through the park the way it's set up but I would suspect we had about 3,000 guests throughout the weekend,” said Bergen, who is vice-president of the Innisfail Special Events Planning Society (ISEPS), the non-profit community organization that has hosted the festival for the past three years.
Bergen was proud that Innisfail’s autumn signature community event has now become a regional attraction.
“We had plenty of people come from Calgary and other places. And I know that because they've called and said ‘thank you, what a wonderful event you hosted,” said Bergen. “I would hope we can be well known over central Alberta. That's the goal, right?
“We want to increase our attendance,” she added. “We want to increase things that are coming into the park for people to see. We try to change it up a little bit every year.”
And there was plenty for folks to see and do in 2024.
Children had many attractions to choose from in the Kids Zone, and then there were loads of smiles and magical moments coming from Azia "Zee" Jamesson, Bowden’s Joyful Jester.
For the big boys and girls there was the mechanical bull riding event in the Darkwoods Beer Gardens.
And for both kids and adults there was also live entertainment from Slow Walkin’ Walter, the Chinese Dragon Lion Dancers, and the Macleod of Lewis Highland Dancers.
As always, there was wagon rides from Double T Percherons.
The festival also had a huge Artisans Market for visitors to browse through a wide variety of handmade goods, including unique jewelry, beautiful artwork, home décor and much more.
For the hungry and thirsty there was the Food Truck Frenzy that offered a selection of food and beverage choices, from Shawarma and Mexican dishes to mini-donuts.
On the festival’s second day a huge crane hovered over the festival for the Innisfail Kinsmen’s annual Golf Ball Drop.
Hundreds of numbered golf balls were dropped for the eye-catching event, a major fundraiser for the service club’s next important community project.
And never to be forgotten was the scarecrow competition along Scarecrow Lane that featured 40 entries competing in five different categories, including the People’s Choice Award.
“They are absolutely stunning,” said Colleen Hickey, a festival volunteer in charge of Scarecrow Lane. “I think it just goes back to the original one that was on Main Street, and it kind of died off. We wanted to get it back.
“And they (guests) just love having it out there and getting that fall feel of having the scarecrows out there and seeing everybody’s creativity.”
As for the Innisfail Fall Festival’s future after three successful annual events, it looks promising.
Attendance, organization and community support is rock solid.
However, Bergen said the ISEPS committee will be looking for a title sponsor for the 2025 Harvest Festival.
The festival had one for the inaugural fall festival but none since.
“The only downfall this year is that sponsorship was a little bit down,” said Bergen. “So, we're going to try really hard next year to find a title sponsor.
“Hopefully next year, sponsorship is up a little bit so we can keep this a free event for our community because it really brings our community together,” she added. “And we get to showcase all the wonderful things that we have in our community.”
The next big ISEPS event is the Christmas Bazaar in late November.
