MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - The first-ever, two-day Aggie Days Mountain View 2022 agriculture promotion and education event was a resounding success, says Greg Harris, Mountain View County deputy reeve and event co-organizer.
Running May 13-14, Aggie Days took place at the Heritage Centre by Mountain View Events facility just east of Cremona.
It featured displays by local and provincial agriculture and agribusiness organizations, area farmers and ranchers, Olds College, the University of Calgary School of Veterinary Medicine, ag societies, ag-related businesses, safety organizations, forage associations, entertainers, energy producers and providers, scientists and many others.
The event saw students from schools across the district attend on Friday, followed by the general public on Saturday. Both days featured great spring weather, with activities both indoors and outside.
Harris estimated that more than 1,000 people attended on Saturday and somewhere between 700 and 900 students on Friday.
“It was a great success,” said Harris, who is the councillor for the Cremona-Water Valley area of the county.
The event aimed to promote the many, many aspects of the agriculture community and industry, he said.
“We were focused on education more than selling anything,” he said. “We tried to present every facet of the agricultural community, including the University of Calgary School of Veterinary Medicine with an awesome exhibit.”
Events included tractor rodeo, stock dog demonstrations, rope making, live music, equine first aid demonstrations, and the recognition of longtime area farms and ranches.
Hundreds of volunteers made Aggie Days possible, he said.
Asked if Aggie Days will return in 2023, he said, “We are going to sit down and debrief and look at the plans to move forward. The response we got was good enough that we are certainly looking at having it again.”