On Sunday, Northlands revealed the winning title in the Name Your Fair contest. After more than 50,000 votes, the new name of the Capital Ex will be K-Days.
“I think it’s about a one-thousand percent improvement over the last one,” says Ernie Korchinski, a Northlands Shareholder.
The name of the fair was originally rebranded to Capital Ex in 2006. For 44 years before that, the exhibition was known as Klondike Days, a theme centered on the Klondike gold rush. However, the Capital Ex was not well-received by the public.
“I told them from day one,” recalls Korchinski, “this name sucks, and there’s no way that people are going to accept it.”
Northlands opened up the naming of the fair to the public; accepting name submissions, than narrowing the final choices down to six names, with the help of a panel. Then, the public could vote on their top pick for the fair name. From the 51,000 votes Northlands received, more than 38,000 votes were for K-Days.
“It was a runaway, it was a landslide by any measure – very impressive,” says President and CEO of Northlands, Richard Andersen.
“I don’t know if I was necessarily surprised,” reveals Jennifer Sheenan, a Public Relations Advisor with Northlands.
“I think I was overwhelmed with the number of votes themselves. We had over 50,000 votes come in… so obviously the community very much wanted to be part of the process.”
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“They wanted KDays,” she states. “We’re glad the community got to be part of the process, and that they got what they wanted.”
Now, there’s just one blaring question left.
“There’s only one thing that bothers me: what does the K stand for?”
Korchinski says Northlands needs to provide some context on the name, theme and marketing plan to Edmontonians.
“They’ve got to tell us what that K means to them,” he says.
“If it means Klondike Days, than the announcement that they’re going to have a new logo and a new theme is superfluous.”
“The K won’t stand for Klondike,” states Sheenan.
“We still have features of Klondike in the park… we have gold panning, we have the train, we have the history of the gold rush, and those elements will continue to exist in our summer fair.”
What the K will stand for is still up in the air.
Anderson says that has “yet to be determined.”
“But certainly it will reference the past but look to the future,” he explains.
“I’m sure we’ll find a way to honour the past and the Klondike experience as well.”
“We’re not sure yet. The vote tally came in late on Saturday, and that’s when we found out what the name of our fair was going to be,” adds Sheenan.
Over the next few months, Northlands will be planning and brainstorming ways to incorporate the new name into the theme and programming. It will also solicit public input.
Still, the input some are hoping for is clarification on what this new name stands for, and what it will say about the future of the summer fair.
“People are going to be wondering, what the heck’s going on,” stresses Korchinski.
Some people Global interviewed didn’t seem overly concerned about the meaning behind the name.
“I don’t know,” said one man. “I’ve only known it as Capital Ex.”
“I think it’s the show,” adds another. “Not the name.”
Still another weighed in, “my dad worked at carnival 30 years ago, and he says that’s they called it then.”
“K-days is what I typically refer to as Klondike Days,” says one man.
“I’m pumped,” says Atif Farhat. “I can’t wait to get here for next year. I’ll be bringing out my Klondike stuff and wearing it all!”
Sheenan says next year will be more than just a new name, it will continue to see the programming, events, and musical offerings grow.
“Next year, we’re looking forward to K-Days and to enhance the programming here at the summer fair,” she says. “We’re looking at pushing back some of the events into the community, building on our cultural exhibits, and finding new ways to attract a wider audience.”
The other options were River City Festival, River City Summer Fair, Edmonton Summer Exhibition, EdFest, and The Edmonton Exhibition.
With files from Jenna Bridges and Kendra Slugoski
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