Want to say ‘I Do’ at the CNE? Fair launches ‘Marriage on the Midway’ contest

People walk past the ferris wheel the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. The Canadian National Exhibition says big Labour Day long weekend crowds helped lift attendance to 1.49 million visitors during this year's festivities. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paige Taylor White

Have you been dreaming of saying ‘I Do’ amidst the scenic backdrop of North America’s tallest travelling wheel during the largest summer fair in Canada?

Well, the Canadian National Exhibition is giving one lucky couple that chance this year.

 The CNE is launching the “Marriage on the Midway” contest for couples who have a special connection to the fair.

The couple selected for the Ontario-wide contest will win a vow ceremony under the backdrop of the SuperWheel, an official wedding photographer and a wedding cake designed by a local bakery as part of the fair’s cake decorating competition.

“Every year we meet and hear from visitors who tell us that they had their first date at the CNE or met their partners while working their summer job; and we even know of a few vendors, some who have been married for more than 50 years, who first met and fell in love at the CNE,” Jane Matthews, the fair’s marketing director, said in a statement.

“We’ve had wedding proposals at the CNE, so this year we thought, why not a wedding ceremony?!”

The CNE said the couple and up to 20 of their guests will also get unlimited rides, $500 food vouchers and reserved seating at the Bell CNE Bandshell for the concert of 98 Degrees, who will serenade the winners with their song “I Do (Cherish You).”

The CNE noted that the ceremony is not intended as a legally binding marriage or ceremony but is just a “symbolic celebration of love.”

Couples who want to enter can submit their love story online until Aug. 8, with the winners being announced by Aug. 15, the first days of this year’s CNE.