An event that has quickly grown into a popular attraction in the southeast region will soon be returning to Carlyle.
Carlyle Fun Dayz will take place in the downtown area on Aug. 17. It will start with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. at the Carlyle Memorial Hall.
Activities are slated to happen throughout the day. A market is set for the Carlyle Memorial Hall at 9:30 a.m. A parade will make its way down Main Street at 11 a.m. A family fun zone will start at noon, with bumper cars and other attractions.
Also starting at noon will be karaoke and a fashion show at the Spectrum Main Stage, a show and shine at the PureChem parking lot on Main Street and food vendors on Main Street.
A velociraptor dinosaur will be appearing in the parade, and will be at the Home Hardware parking lot at 1 p.m.
High tea will be served at 2 p.m. at the Rusty Relics Museum.
Live music and a beer garden will start at 2 p.m.
Jennifer Sedor, who is the chairperson of the Fun Dayz committee, said people can look forward to a couple of popular acts returning for the live music: the Bromantics, who were at Fun Dayz in 2017, and the Milkman’s Sons, who performed last year.
Also scheduled to perform are Carlyle’s The Hurricane Pilots and Forget’s 50-or-40.
“I’ve heard them all several times myself, and I’m excited to bring them to the public,” said Sedor. “The Bromantics are back by popular demand. They were a fan favourite in 2017.”
The organizing committee is also in the midst of booking another band.
Sedor pointed out that all of the activities are free to attend, including the family fun zone.
“People can save their money on parking and admission, and hopefully spend it at our stores and at our local vendors and at our craft market,” she said.
Since this is the fourth year for Carlyle Fun Dayz, the festival is becoming more efficient to run. A lot of community organizations are on board, and the business community takes a big leadership role.
“We try not to canvass for sponsorships, so businesses come to us to sponsor the event. So we’ve had a really, really good response from people out of town,” she said.
Hotels are starting to fill up for the weekend of the event.
“This event was created to focus on our local economy,” said Sedor. "We are trying to bring something right to downtown Carlyle that is going to get people shopping. People are going to know what services we have. It’s going to put us on the map as a tourist destination in the summer.
“It’s really something where we can come together and showcase what we are as a town and as a community to our neighbouring municipalities and towns.”
Sedor believes last year’s event attracted about 2,500 people, but she admitting that it’s a tough number to gage, because they try to count numbers but don’t have the benefit of admission.
They take a photo and count the number of heads in that picture.
Sedor noted that last year they only had two musical acts when they attracted so many people. This year they hope to have five bands plus the karaoke contest.
“We have all sorts of different activities happening up and down Main Street all day long, so we’re really expecting that number to grow.”
And while it’s still a few more days until this year’s Fun Dayz, Sedor said the committee is already having fun thinking about activities for the milestone fifth edition next year.
