Taber celebrates Cornfest 2022

Crowds at Taber Cornfest 2022.

TABER, Alta. — Whoop-Up Days isn’t the only fair happening in southern Alberta this weekend.

The town of Taber kicked off its annual Cornfest celebrations on Thursday with the 2022 parade.

Taber Cornfest organizer Rick Popadynetz says from the rides and food to the live entertainment, there is something for everyone – especially if you like corn.

Attendees will be able to get their fill of corn on the cob, kettle corn and more.

Popadynetz says he’s most looking forward to seeing the acts on the Cornfest stage.

"There's some really great bands on stage. The live entertainment is local and it's better than most of anything else you can find in southern Alberta – and it's free – so I like watching the entertainment and seeing who's on stage."

While it may be a great time to be a corn lover, you can’t say the same thing about being a corn farmer.

Inflation has hit farmers particularly hard lately, and has caused the cost of everything to do with food production to spike.

James Molnar, a farmer at Molnar farms, says costs are "way up."

"Our fuel cost especially – we're paying about double for fuel over last year. Labour is up a bit, equipment is up, our seed is going up," he said.

Despite the grim economic news, there have been some positives for farmers around Taber this year: Last year was so hot it saw water shortages throughout the region, but cooler temperatures this summer mean there’s enough water to go around.

Taber Cornfest runs until Aug. 27.

For information on events you can visit the Taber Cornfest website.