It’s an event that has quickly become a summer favourite for many in southeast Saskatchewan.
The annual Carlyle Fun Dayz was held Aug. 17 in the community. Thousands of people turned out to witness the parade, enjoy the activities that were in the Family Fun Zone and listen to the live music provided by several bands.
A pancake breakfast and a market opened the day at the Carlyle Memorial Hall.
A parade kicked off at 11 a.m. and made its way through the community with 42 floats. Event chairperson Jennifer Sedor said most of the businesses in the town were part of the parade.
“Main Street was completely packed with people,” she said. “It got very narrow. I think we probably had 3,000 people out on the parade route on Saturday morning. It was crazy. It was great.”
That meant there were more people watching the parade than residents of the town.
The family fun zone boasted bumper cars, kids’ rides, face painting, a show and shine, food vendors and even a dinosaur.
High tea was served at the Rusty Relics Museum.
The free admission for the family fun zone is a big part of the event’s success, she said.
“A night out or a day out with the family is something that has gotten really expensive in general,” said Sedor. “And ours doesn’t have a cover fee. You’re not going to be paying for parking. You’re not going to be paying admission. You’re not going to be buying tickets.”
All of the businesses on Main Street had sales during the day, and they were happy with the number of customers.
“The added bonus is when folks don’t have to pay for admission and parking and wristbands and things like that, they’re going to spend it in your stores and they’re going to spend it at your local club’s fundraisers that they’re putting on on the streets, and they’re going to spend it at the vendor markets for the artisans and the small business owners.”
She’s glad to see that people are supporting the business community, because their aim is to bring people into town so they can see what Carlyle has to offer.
“I haven’t heard a single bad thing from any business owner that they weren’t busy this Saturday. So hopefully that gets our profile up, and people start coming back and saying Carlyle has that. Let’s go for a drive to Carlyle this weekend, even when there’s no fair on. That’s what we want.”
The live music started at 1 p.m. and continued until midnight. Spectators enjoyed the music of the Hurricane Pilots, the Milkman’s Sons, the Bromantics and Big Bad Storm.
Sedor noted Big Bad Storm was a substitution for another band that cancelled.
“We had a last-minute callout for a band, and they were fantastic, so we can expect to see them again next year,” said Sedor.
The music lived up to the expectations, she said. The Milkman’s Sons and the Bromantics performed at Carlyle Fun Dayz previously.
“We are getting higher calibre bands every year. We’re just excited to see the talent that is out there in Saskatchewan. We love keeping it home-grown entertainment, for sure, and we love seeing the Saskatchewan acts come through our door.”
Next year they hope to bring in some country music to further diversify their entertainment offerings.
Organizers were hoping to have a karaoke contest in an effort to give local residents a chance to showcase their talents, but they didn’t get as many registrations as they wanted, so it was cancelled a few days prior to the Fun Dayz.
“We probably will bring it back again next year, with a little more advanced warning for people to sign up.”
Carlyle Fun Dayz is an event that requires the hard work of a lot of people, she said. They dedicate many hours prior to the day.
“We have already started our planning for next year, so it’s a 365 day a year operation. So there is grant writing. There is planning the events. There is booking the events. There is communicating with permits and insurance, and having people available the weekend of to set things up and take things down.”
The more they grow, the more jobs they find that have to be tackled during the event.
“We are going to continue to need more and more people who are wanting to keep volunteering to make it a great event, so that everyone can enjoy the day.”
Next year will mark the fifth edition of Carlyle Fun Dayz and Sedor hopes it can be the biggest edition yet. She would like to see the entire downtown area become a pedestrian zone, and have the activities take up the entire street.
