Farmfair International kicks off in Edmonton to ‘bridge urban and rural’

Farmfair International has returned to Edmonton's Expo Centre for 2025. CTV News Edmonton's Marek Tkach has the details.

Canada’s top agricultural show officially kicked off on Wednesday at the Edmonton Expo Centre, and there’s a lot going on at once.

Explore Edmonton’s Lori Wheeler said the overall goal of Farmfair International is to get city folk interested in the artistry of food.

“One of the things that we’re always looking to do is to bridge urban and rural,” she said. The city has commissioned The Art of Farming, a fusion piece of grains, seeds, vegetables and fruits to represent the bounty grown across the province. It was created by artist Theo Harasymiw and carpenter Calvin Burns.

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“We were looking for a way to show the broad scope of what agriculture represents, and one of the great ways to do that is through food,” Wheeler added.

Farmfair is also celebrating its 51st year of being Alberta’s largest beef cattle show.

Maddie Watkins, a Grade 12 student from Okotoks, will be there with her newest steer as part of a 4-H program she’s been in for a decade. She said she’s looking to shine a light on the complexities of the beef industry.

“You just show up in the grocery store and you see all these packages of beef, and without knowing how hard it is to get it there,” she told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday. “It takes a community to be able to make that happen.”

The 4-H show activities will be running throughout the weekend with a dedicated day on Saturday. In the meantime, Farmfair’s featured country this year is the United Kingdom. Visitors will be able to also catch wiener dog races, a singles mixer, barn tours, sausage tasting, and a marmite vs. marmalade showdown.

Despite an overwhelming number of activities, local rancher Peter Watkins hopes everyone coming to Farmfair has their eyes opened to the process behind their food.

“When you’ve grown up in the livestock and agriculture industry, it’s quite shocking to see the divide between rural and urban and how it’s stretching every year,” he said.

“It’s pretty important for them to learn that there’s a large number of the population that are actually devoting their life to raising the best product, whether it be beef or agriculture.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Marek Tkach