Crocus Festival coming to Arden
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Photo by John Dietz. These purple flowers recently opened up their petals in Arden, the Crocus Capital of Manitoba.
By Kira Paterson
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The first Saturday of May, as it has been since 2001, will be a busy one in Arden. May 7 is the day for the 16th annual Arden Crocus Festival. The Crocus Festival is a fun day for the whole family that celebrates Arden’s status as the crocus capital of Manitoba.
The event starts at 8:30 am with a pancake breakfast. Attendees can have all their meals at the festival if they want. At noon there will be hot dogs available for lunch and then there will be a supper at 4:30 pm. The meals are free for children under 13 years of age.
Starting at 10:00 am, the animal farm will be open with pony rides for children. There will also be other kids’ activities throughout the day, including crafts and face painting. Also at 10:00 is when the wagon rides start. A wagon is pulled through Arden by a tractor, taking the festival goers by the crocus patches and to the giant crocus sculpture.
Starting at noon, “Pooh sticks” will be up for sale. People can buy a numbered stick to race down the river like the characters do in Winnie the Pooh stories. The race will begin at 1:30 pm, with the sticks being dropped in the river from Arden’s swinging bridge, traveling with the current to the finish line downriver. The first three sticks that cross the finish line will each win a portion of half the money from the sale of the “Pooh sticks”.
Throughout the whole day, the photos from the Crocus Photo Contest will be up on display at the Arden Community Hall, where anyone can go and see them and pick their favourite photos. There are sponsors that judge the photos to choose which ones get awarded most of the prizes, but there is the People’s Choice award that lets the festival goers have a say. There will also be a rainbow auction for some door prizes and a quilt raffle draw. The draws for those will be after supper along with the announcement of the winners of the photo contest.
Arden also recently held their Bloomin’ Crocus contest, where entrants guessed which day the crocuses would first bloom. The winning guess was April 12 and the prize for that will also be presented at the festival after supper.
At 2:00, Mago the Magician from Winnipeg will perform some magic tricks. Then at 2:30, he will make balloon animals for the kids.
After supper, during the draw and contest announcements, as well as afterwards, there will local entertainment. Abe Enns will perform as per tradition, as well as a few more acts yet to be determined.
“It’s going to be a very busy day, a very fun day. I just hope the weather cooperates,” noted Rod Shuttleworth, co-chair of the Lansdowne Heritage Resources and Tourism Committee that puts the festival on every year.
