Excitement is mounting for Cornfest, and volunteer organizers right now are furiously preparing for Taber’s annual community celebration. But although the event remains virtually identical to previous years, there are some changes attendees should be aware of.

“We wanted to let people know that it would be basically the same old show, but there’s been a few little things done to hopefully make it better for everybody,” said Cornfest co-chair Tom Patterson.
The most major change will be the prohibition of dogs from the event grounds and park throughout the duration of the celebration.
“Number one, the no-dogs rule, we just felt that because there was a near incident last year and then there’s also been an incident in town in the meantime, that maybe it would be best not to have dogs in the park,” said Patterson.
The decision was made primarily in regards to safety, not for other reasons, added Patterson.
“It’s mostly a safety hazard, in terms of a dog biting someone, or two dogs getting in a fight, or whatever. The hygienic part of it is another issue — but this is a safety issue. There’s a lot of people, and you don’t always know how a dog is going to react. So, we’d just prefer no dogs. We’ll have it posted, and the police chief has said he’ll help us with enforcing it.”
Those expecting to see a spectacular fireworks display on the Saturday night will not be disappointed, with additional pyrotechnics being added for this year.
“The fireworks are also going to be a little different this year,” said Patterson. “We’re going to have some going off in the park and then still seeing ones that go off at the golf course. So, those people that stay in the park will be able to see more of a show.”
A previously-congested area for pedestrian foot traffic will have hopefully been alleviated, according to Patterson.
“We’ve also kind of moved the vendors trailers back a little bit to give people more of a walkway. It was a little congested between the midway and the park, so we’ve hopefully opened that up a bit more.”
With parking always a premium for the Cornfest weekend, a shuttle service is being implemented to try to keep the traffic and parking problems at bay.
“There’s going to be a shuttle service this year. That’s something that’s been tried in the past, we’re going to try it again. It will run on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. from the St. Mary’s parking lot and the W.R. Myers parking lot to Confederation Park. It will run every half hour. People can drive down to St. Mary’s parking lot if it’s close to you, drop your car off, and a way you go. That’s the whole thing — people have nowhere to park, so now we’re hoping that this will help alleviate some of that problem.”
Patterson also encourages everyone to support the extra fireworks through purchasing draw tickets.
“There is a 50/50 draw going on. You can get tickets at some businesses, and at the Bank of Nova Scotia for sure, and that will be drawn on Saturday night. It should be a good size — they’re two dollars a ticket, and you can get them now or they’ll be selling them at the Chamber booth. I encourage everybody to buy up, because that’s how we’re hoping to cover the additional cost of the fireworks.”
Patterson admitted the committee had flirted with the idea of a non-smoking event, but opted to drop this idea due to enforcement issues.
“We’ve just decided that the MC at the stage will make a couple of announcements, that people be courteous and look around them before they smoke. That was going to open up a can of worms that we didn’t want to get into.”