聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Members of the Kamsack Indoor Rodeo Association attended the Canadian Western Agribition (CWA) volunteer appreciation event in Regina on April 7.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dave Matechuk, president of the Kamsack rodeo, and Carol Belley, a long-time member of the Kamsack rodeo board, were among the hundreds of volunteers recognized at the event which followed the Agribition鈥檚 annual general meeting, where it was announced that Agribiton realized a profit from operations of $844,606 and produces a provincial economic impact of $56 million annually.
Attendance for the show was the highest it's been in six years with 130,200 visitors over the six-day event, said a release from Agribition.
鈥淭his year's show felt more festive than any in recent memory,鈥� said Stewart Stone, CWA president. 鈥淥ur music lineup has expanded and programming has evolved to include educating consumers about where their food comes from. These changes, combined with the health of the agriculture industry, made for a great show.鈥�
CWA's reputation as an agriculture marketplace was amplified by significant growth in livestock sales, the release said. For the first time since 1975, overall livestock sales reached $3.4 million and purebred beef sales exceeded $2 million.
The rodeo opened with a free admission night courtesy of The Mosaic Company and numbers stayed strong all week resulting in a record of 23,560 fans over five performances, it said.
"Our partnership with Mosaic set the stage for an attendance record that will never be broken," said Marty Seymour, CWA CEO.
The show was visited by over 800 international guests from 70 different countries, with a 25 per cent increase in active international buyers, it said.
Adding to the show's banner year, CWA was recognized for marketing and promotional achievement at the Paragon Business Excellence Awards, it said. CWA is also up for Marquee Event of the Year at the Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence to take place today (April 14).
Dates for the 2016 Canadian Western Agribition are November 21-26.
