By Corey Fischer

Armstrong Ready For The IPE

Aug 28, 2017 | 6:37 AM

One of the biggest local events of the year gets under way this week in Armstrong.

The Interior Provincial Exhibition is celebrating its 118th edition, and will pay special tribute to Canada’s 150th birthday, and to 150 years of agriculture in the country.

General Manager Yvonne Paulson says the number of exhibits is on par with previous years.

“I thought that with all the wildfires and all the strange weather we’ve had this year that it would drop considerably, but we’re kind of maintaining. We’re about 100 exhibits lower than we were last year, which is really phenomenal considering all the adversity of the weather.”

Paulson says they’ve got lots of entertainment, agriculture and food in store.

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She says admission prices are the same as last year.

“Because we’re a non profit organization, we want to maintain the pricing for everyone as much as we can. As long as we can afford to keep doing that, we won’t raise the prices.”

Paulson says they draw mostly from the region, as well as Alberta, Ontario, along with some international visitors.

“We’re also going to be doing a survey this year to get a feel for the demographics, where they are coming from to see if that’s changed. We did that six years ago, and it really gives us a good idea. It also tells us what kind of economic spin off the fair has.”

Paulson says one highlight will be the BC Goat Association celebrating 100 years, with over 108 head of goat on hand.

One change this year will see an earlier start time for the nightly rodeo at 7 pm — instead of 8 — to make it more family friendly.

The IPE starts Wednesday to Sunday at the fairgrounds in Armstrong.

by Corey Fischer