source: Farm and Food Report
Saddle up, pardner, and get ready for a rip snortin’ good time in Yorkton this summer.
The first annual Yorkton Cowboy Festival will be riding into town on August 13th and 14th.
“The festival will include two days of action packed events including a ranch rodeo, a western art and gear show, a cowboy poetry and western music talent stage, along with a western music concert, ranch roping and reined cow-horse competitions,” explains Ducks Unlimited’s Stu Cairns, one of the event organizers.
This may be the first such festival in the Yorkton area, but Cowboy Festivals are very popular in Alberta, where Cairns and others on the organizing committee have migrated from in recent years. “It was something we were familiar with back there, and we sort of saw it as a gap we can fill here.”
Cairns notes that a recent Sask Trends Monitor release indicated that, from 2001 to 2004, “the migration of out-of-province farmers to the Yorkton/Melville area has become evident in the statistics.”
He adds that “over the past three to five years, the entire East Central Region of the province has seen a significant immigration of ranching families from Alberta and British Columbia. This trend is attributed to the economic benefits associated with the very reasonably priced land in our part of the province that is well suited to ranching and beef cattle production.
“This influx of new people with a ranching background to our region has been a positive experience and one that we, the community, would like to celebrate,” explains Cairns.
“Looking back into our history prior to the traditional grain farming era, ranching and the life of a working cowboy were really some of the original beginnings of agriculture in Saskatchewan. The Yorkton Cowboy Festival is an event that will highlight and celebrate this history and heritage.”
“Overall,” said Cairns, “the Cowboy Festival is really an event aimed at the further development of a ‘ranch culture,’ to foster a spirit of western living in the Yorkton area, and attract tourists and economic activity to our region.”
Among the events featured at the two-day festival will be the ranch rodeo, inspired by the everyday activities and chores of the working cowboy, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food’s Naomi Paley, another fellow organizer.
“The events in the one-day ranch rodeo will provide spectators with an opportunity to view and appreciate the skills and finesse involved in handling ranch stock efficiently and effectively.
“The Cowboy Festival is a way for our community to make these newcomers from Alberta and elsewhere feel at home. We estimate that over the last three to five years, about 100 families have moved here from Alberta alone,” she adds.
On Saturday evening, there will be a western music concert at St. Mary’s complex, featuring performers from Saskatchewan and Alberta who will entertain the crowd with western tunes and perhaps even a bit of yodeling, sure to get your toes tapping.
Both Naomi Paley and Stu Cairns want the festival to be as cowboy-oriented as possible.
Cairns adds that he also expects the general public will attend the event because so many seem to appreciate the cowboy way of life.
“The Yorkton Cowboy Festival will benefit individuals through the entire region, as well as others from outside the province, who may choose to attend the event during a summer vacation or a visit to our community,” reflects Cairns.
He hopes many will take up this opportunity to take in the lesser-known traditions of the Yorkton region.
For more information on attending or participating in the events of the Yorkton Cowboy Festival, call (306) 782-2108.
For more information, contact:
Stu Cairns
Ducks Unlimited
(306) 782-2108
Naomi Paley
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
(306) 786-1509
Saddle up, pardner, and get ready for a rip snortin’ good time in Yorkton this summer.
The first annual Yorkton Cowboy Festival will be riding into town on August 13th and 14th.
“The festival will include two days of action packed events including a ranch rodeo, a western art and gear show, a cowboy poetry and western music talent stage, along with a western music concert, ranch roping and reined cow-horse competitions,” explains Ducks Unlimited’s Stu Cairns, one of the event organizers.
This may be the first such festival in the Yorkton area, but Cowboy Festivals are very popular in Alberta, where Cairns and others on the organizing committee have migrated from in recent years. “It was something we were familiar with back there, and we sort of saw it as a gap we can fill here.”
Cairns notes that a recent Sask Trends Monitor release indicated that, from 2001 to 2004, “the migration of out-of-province farmers to the Yorkton/Melville area has become evident in the statistics.”
He adds that “over the past three to five years, the entire East Central Region of the province has seen a significant immigration of ranching families from Alberta and British Columbia. This trend is attributed to the economic benefits associated with the very reasonably priced land in our part of the province that is well suited to ranching and beef cattle production.
“This influx of new people with a ranching background to our region has been a positive experience and one that we, the community, would like to celebrate,” explains Cairns.
“Looking back into our history prior to the traditional grain farming era, ranching and the life of a working cowboy were really some of the original beginnings of agriculture in Saskatchewan. The Yorkton Cowboy Festival is an event that will highlight and celebrate this history and heritage.”
“Overall,” said Cairns, “the Cowboy Festival is really an event aimed at the further development of a ‘ranch culture,’ to foster a spirit of western living in the Yorkton area, and attract tourists and economic activity to our region.”
Among the events featured at the two-day festival will be the ranch rodeo, inspired by the everyday activities and chores of the working cowboy, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food’s Naomi Paley, another fellow organizer.
“The events in the one-day ranch rodeo will provide spectators with an opportunity to view and appreciate the skills and finesse involved in handling ranch stock efficiently and effectively.
“The Cowboy Festival is a way for our community to make these newcomers from Alberta and elsewhere feel at home. We estimate that over the last three to five years, about 100 families have moved here from Alberta alone,” she adds.
On Saturday evening, there will be a western music concert at St. Mary’s complex, featuring performers from Saskatchewan and Alberta who will entertain the crowd with western tunes and perhaps even a bit of yodeling, sure to get your toes tapping.
Both Naomi Paley and Stu Cairns want the festival to be as cowboy-oriented as possible.
Cairns adds that he also expects the general public will attend the event because so many seem to appreciate the cowboy way of life.
“The Yorkton Cowboy Festival will benefit individuals through the entire region, as well as others from outside the province, who may choose to attend the event during a summer vacation or a visit to our community,” reflects Cairns.
He hopes many will take up this opportunity to take in the lesser-known traditions of the Yorkton region.
For more information on attending or participating in the events of the Yorkton Cowboy Festival, call (306) 782-2108.
For more information, contact:
Stu Cairns
Ducks Unlimited
(306) 782-2108
Naomi Paley
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
(306) 786-1509
Comments