Stay informed with the LNN Daily Newsletter
The entry gate to the 2019 Whoop-Up Days. (Lethbridge News Now)

Exhibition Park encouraged by restrictions plan, but planning summer events will be a challenge

May 26, 2021 | 3:35 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The last 15 months or so has not been easy for what Mike Warkentin calls the “gatherings business.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation and downscaling of most events Exhibition Park has been wanting to put on, but we may be approaching the light at the end of the tunnel.

Premier Jason Kenney announced the “Open for Summer” plan on Wednesday, a three-stepped approach to relaxing COVID restrictions. If all goes according to schedule, we could see all measures lifted as soon as early July.

READ MORE: Province announces three-stage plan to ease restrictions

In Kenney’s announcement, he was clear in stating that major events such as the Calgary Stampede will be good to go ahead this year.

Warkentin, newly promoted as the CEO of Exhibition Park, says they have spent the last several months putting together numerous contingency plans in case things were to open up again.

“I am hopeful that we will be able to bring the community together this summer, yes. Now, what that looks like yet, I can’t commit to because, quite frankly, I don’t know, but we’re working on it.”

With Whoop-Up Days, the city’s largest annual festival, typically taking place in mid-to-late August, it would seem like a natural fit for a summer of returning to normal.

However, Warkentin says it is a bit more complicated than that as a large portion of the facility is already being used.

“We can’t do a full Whoop-Up Days because half of our site is under construction, so we have to be cognizant of that, we have to be cognizant of the vaccine clinic, but we are also very aware of the fact that we need to deliver a product for the community because the community just needs a way to get together.”

He knows that the lack of events has not only been tough on his team at Exhibition Park, but for all of the vendors that rely on these events to support their businesses.

In the next couple of weeks, Warkentin hopes to have their summer 2021 plans finalized and he is excited to share whatever that ends up being with the public.

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.