Manitoba's Morden and Corn and Apple Festival is an irresistible force
Throw together music, dance, food, and antique cars together with a tractor pull, rides and a parade, and what do you have?
An irresistible force. It’s no wonder the recent Morden Corn and Apple Festival drew some 75,000 to this Manitoba town of 8,000 inhabitants.
“The numbers are really amazing when you think of the size of our community,” says festival chair Chris Macpherson. “Add them all up, and we had a thousand volunteers who helped make this event happen. That’s well over 10 percent of the entire town’s population. We couldn’t do it without them.”
Established in 1967, the Morden Corn and Apple Festival has grown into one of the largest street festivals in Manitoba – with corn shucking, a vintage car and Harley Davidson show-and-shine, mud racing, street busking, street vendors, crafts, and more.
For Morden mayor Ken Wiebe, part of the festival’s success is that it makes a great effort to be as accessible and family-oriented as possible. “This was our 49th year, and the motto for the festival is always the same: ‘It’s fun, it’s free.’ And we take that to heart,” he says. “We hand out apple cider and free corn-on-the-cob to anyone that wants it.”
Enbridge is committing to enriching the communities near our projects and operations. That’s why we support community fairs and festivals far and wide – from the Babas and Borshch Ukrainian Festival in Andrew, Alta., to the Horse Stick Rodeo in Reston, Sask., to the Music in the Square series in Codrington, Ont.
On the calendar for this month are Tourism Radville’s fifth annual festival in Radville, Sask., starting Sept. 18, and the 165th Ancaster Fair in Ancaster, Ont., from Sept. 24 to 27.
Enbridge’s proposed $7.5-billion Line 3 Replacement Program, the largest project in our company’s history, will present economic opportunities in communities across the prairies as we replace one of our mainline right-of-way crude oil pipelines from Hardisty, Alta., to Superior, Wis.
Wiebe and Macpherson agree that the major corporate sponsorship from Enbridge is crucial to the Morden festival’s success.
“In terms of our Enbridge partnership,” says Wiebe, “I can tell you it isn’t the only support they’ve given to Morden. But this is another great initiative. Without this kind of corporate backing, I have no doubt the festival would just disappear.
“Beyond that, I see the work they’re doing along the right-of-way to keep their pipelines stable and in good order, and so I really commend them for that,” he adds. “I’m very impressed with what Enbridge is doing.”
Adds Macpherson: “For the community, this festival translates into a million dollars in positive economic impact each year. That’s good for everybody.”
