Taber Cornfest organizers “planning for everything” with no COVID restrictions

Jul 25, 2021 | 6:00 AM

TABER, AB – What we are assuming is the largest annual corn-themed summer festival is back.

Co-Chair Rick Popadymetz is excited to be able to host Taber Cornfest this August after being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

“We’ve been working with Alberta Health Services and they’re telling us that we should plan for everything, so we’re planning as if [this is] a pre-COVID Cornfest.”

Popadymetz was told by AHS that if vaccination rates continue to increase and there are no major outbreaks in the area in the coming weeks, they are good to plan for everything.

Should the COVID-19 situation change, he says they can easily scale the event back if needed.

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Dozens of festivities have been scheduled for August 26-29.

Popadymetz explained what he is looking forward to the most.

“Personally, I really like going to see the stage entertainment – just seeing live entertainment and local artists playing music on the stage is just fantastic to be able to see the amount of culture we have in our community and the surrounding communities.”

In a normal year, he says that Taber Cornfest would typically have anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 people in attendance, but since it is a free event where they do not keep track, it is hard to give a firm estimate.

Given that attendance at the Calgary Stampede was down significantly this year, Popadymetz expects that there will be fewer people in Taber as well.

A full list of Taber Cornfest activities can be found here.

by David Opinko