The beginning of the Canadian Western Agribition was marked with the annual tradition – the burning of the brand.
Past president and Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame inductee John Willmott had the honour of marking the Agribition symbol onto a plank of wood.
“I’m looking forward to a great show and it’s a little bit difficult with the construction going on but we’ll work through it, it’ll be fine,” Willmott said.
It’s entertainment with a business purpose.
“People, they like to bring their livestock here because it’s a farmer promotion, you know ‘here’s my livestock, and would you like to buy some,'” Willmott said. said.
“It’s a marketing tool for everybody.”
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More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the show over the next six days. According to Mayor Michael Fougere, Agribition brings millions of dollars to the city.
“This is huge for our city and our province. About 20 million dollars injected into our economy. About 30 million for the province as well,” Fougere said.
Fougere expects all hotels in the city to be fully booked and the bars completely packed.
There are 800 visitors from over 70 different countries that will attend the week-long event, according to Agribition officials.
Tahye Oem is a student from Korea and is on a two-week exchange in Saskatchewan. She said she was surprised by the many different varieties of cows.
“Wow, there are a lot of cows. They are very big cows and small cows,” Oem said.
Her friend Enrique Jiang is from China. He will be studying in Canada for four years. He said the livestock is unlike anything he had ever seen.
READ MORE: Despite being under construction, Regina’s International Trade Centre is ready for Agribition
Agribition isn’t just fascinating for the fresher faces like Oem and Jiang, but for familiar ones too.
Jessica Madar has been coming to Agribition for the past 20 years. She said it’s a great way to support Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry.
“‘Cause I love the animals. I support agricultural stuff so why wouldn’t I come and generally it’s just a fun day,” Madar said.
“Plus mini donuts, I got to have mini donuts,” she laughed.
There are four days of professional rodeo, plus jousting is back by popular demand.
There is also a new feature this year called Running with the Bulls, where dozens of daredevils will try to withstand three waves of running bulls at the Brandt Centre.