Over five days in early November, Edmonton hosted the 43rd annual Canadian Finals Rodeo and Farmfair International and Northlands said attendance was “strong.”
“Farmfair was up a little, CFR was down a little bit but ultimately, I thought it was one of the best events we’ve ever had,” Tim Reid, CEO of Northlands, said.
Between Nov. 9 and 13, 182,968 people came through the doors of Northlands Coliseum and the Expo Centre for the two events.
“With the challenges that we see in the economy, to have a year that’s essentially flat, we thought this was a big win,” he said.
He said the weather also made it an “interesting” year.
“We’ve never dealt with 19 degrees before during the middle of Farmfair and CFR, certainly it’s been a long time,” Reid said. “So, it was a balance of these farmers and ranchers trying to get to their crops to get it off the field as well as wanting to come and join the agri-business side of Farmfair and the entertainment side of CFR.”
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This year, Farmfair International saw a record number of visitors: 95,574.
The fair – which features cattle shows, equine events, rodeos and marketplace – attracted buyers from 12 different countries for business, trade and networking.
More than 1,500 head of livestock were exhibited at Farmfair, including 1,000 head of purebred cattle.
“This year, we saw 36 per cent increase in our international buyers program as well as our first delegation from Asia,” Reid said. “The buying program is really where the business is. At the heart of this, this is about agriculture.”
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The very first CFR in Edmonton was in 1974. It drew 24,000 guests. In 2016, 87,394 people came to check out the rodeo event over the five days.
CFR is the biggest indoor rodeo in Canada, with 107 competitors and more than $1.5 million in prize money.
READ MORE: It’s official: Canadian Finals Rodeo will stay in Edmonton through 2018
When the new NHL arena was built in downtown Edmonton, the future of CFR at Northlands was somewhat up in the air.
However, on Oct. 19, Northlands and the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) said the CFR would stay at the Edmonton Coliseum and Expo Centre for at least two more years.
“Northlands has been a proud partner of CFR for 43 years,” Reid said, describing rodeo as like “a second dynasty taking place in Northlands.”
He said there would be an option to extend the stay past 2018.
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