A popular gun show in High Prairie returns to its annual date in April.
The 20th annual High Prairie Gun and Sportsman Show is set for April 15-16. at the Sports Palace, the Gordon Buchanan Recreation Centre and the High Prairie Curling Rink.
“We will be full again with about 150 vendors and 400 tables,” says Darrell Basarab, who chairs the organizing committee of the High Prairie Fish and Game Association.
“We also expect 4,500-5,000 visitors over the weekend. “It’s for recreation and fun.”
He says the event has become one of the biggest gun shows in the province and growing more popular.
“We have about 20 per cent of new vendors so far,” Basarab says.
“We’ve sold out the past six or seven years.”
The show features a variety of recreation, all-terrain vehicles, lawn and garden products and local businesses and organizations.
Last year, 51 vendors were located in the gun room in the Buchanan Centre, the Artisans’ Market in the curling rink featured 60 vendors, including crafters and home-based businesses while the Sports Palace included 39 vendors.
Vendors will come from all over Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, Basarab says.
Cancelled in 2021 and 2020 by COVID-19 restrictions, the show returned in 2022 on May 14-15, one week before the Victoria Day weekend.
After planning to host the event in May again, organizers had to return to April, he says, since the Town of High Prairie plans major renovations to the Sports Palace. Work is scheduled to start soon to replace the refrigerated concrete pad and dasher board to be complete in time for the start of the 2023-24 hockey season.
“We will likely keep the gun show in April from now on,” Basarab says.
April is a popular month for gun shows around Alberta and other neighbouring provinces, he notes.
Organizers will soon start to canvass for sponsorships and prizes for raffles and a silent auction.
The popular gun raffle will also return.
A banquet with a barbecue supper is scheduled for April 15 at the Edmo Peyre Hall at the High Prairie Pro Rodeo Grounds.
“We use that as our opportunity to thank all our sponsors and volunteers,” Basarab says.
“Without that support, we wouldn’t be able to host the event.”
For more information, phone Basarab at (780) 507-0051 or email to hpfishandgame@hotmail.com.
Anyone wishing to volunteer, may phone Deanna Basarab at (780) 536-7495.
By Richard Froese
Original Published February 25, 2023
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