The Battlefords Agricultural Society Inc. hosts Northwest Territorial Days Aug. 14 to 17 at the North Battleford Exhibition Grounds.
This is one of the most visible events hosted by an organization founded in 1885, when it was known as the Battle River Agricultural Society Inc. The original plan was to have a fair in October 1885, but the Northwest Resistance caused a two-year delay. As a result, the first fair was held in 1887 and this summer the society will present its 125th annual fair.
The Ag. Society, over the years, has brought horse racing, chariot and chuckwagon racing, for both large and small wagons, a midway and attractions to the fair. The society has entered into five-year contracts with West Coast Amusements dating back to the 1980s and has two more years left on its present contract.
The Ag. Society is the oldest legal entity in the Battlefords apart from the Town of Battleford.
Non-fair activities over the organization’s 127-year existence have included bull sales, 4-H regional shows and sales, horse shows, cattle shows, Agrimex Farm and Trade Show, Mistletoe Craft and Gift Shock, children’s festivals, Beef is Our Business trade show, Farmer for a Day, bake sales, garage sales, fowl suppers, RCMP Musical Ride, various concerts, Royal Lipizzaner Stallions, circuses, Evening with Farmers and Friends and Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association races, various judging clinics and a casino.
The society has made its facilities available for round dances, powwows, stock car races, flat races, quarter horse shows, dog classes and shows, ball hockey, machinery clinics, meeting facilities, weddings, funerals and auctions. Rental items are also made available to non-profit organizations and service groups, children’s activities and the general public.
