‘Population of the town doubles’: Cornfest kicks off in Taber

TABER, Alta. — Hundreds are expected to descend on Taber for the 48th annual Cornfest.

“It’s a way to help celebrate the end of summer, the August harvest of our well-known corn,” said Joanne Sorensen, chair of Cornfest.

The annual free family festival features a midway, food vendors, live entertainment, market, car show and, of course, Taber corn.

Although free to check out, Sorensen says the event runs on community support.

“You walk down Main Street and you'll see all the sales and promotions that the local businesses provide,” she said. “Plus, the local restaurants show up with food tents and trucks, so everybody just comes together to support the event.”

The support and money from Cornfest stays in the community.

The M.D. of Taber Fire Services has been hosting its barbeque fundraiser for the past few years and Chief Nathan Cote says it's a way to interact with the community and recruit new members.

“It’s a really good opportunity for us to get out in the community, a really good opportunity for us to raise a little bit of funding,” Cote said. “It helps our firefighters out immensely in building up our training centre and helping us with our training programs for our fire department.”

“It feels like the population of the town doubles for the weekend,” Cote added.

With no gated entrances, Sorenson says attendance numbers aren't collected, but she expects thousands to visit the fair this weekend.

Visiting other festivals throughout southern Alberta all summer, Purple Cow Ice Cream owner Tina Dyck says there's nothing quite like Cornfest.

“There’s something about a small community that brings out that community - small community – vibe,” Dyck said. “So, it's something for us that we've always enjoyed coming.”

The midway runs from noon until midnight on Saturday, with a fireworks display set to cap off the festivities.