Richard Froese
Summer is a time for warm weather and plenty of fun and activities with family and friends in the great outdoors.
Hot weather usually attracts crowds to a lake or beach – or a backyard pool – to cool off from the heat.
In the past several years, massive wildfires have hindered holiday opportunities. Fortunately, cooler and wetter weather in the past couple of months has dampened the ground to help control and reduce wildfires in the north.
Still, many vacationers are waiting for the hot days of summer. Temperatures have barely hit 30 C for more than two consecutive days. No heat waves to report yet! Just be patient, the hotter weather will come sometime in the summer.
Summer is the time for many major outdoor community events that bring people together. Canadians just finished celebrating Canada Day July 1.
Many communities celebrate their local spirit and culture with major events, starting in June and continue over the summer.
Major summer events kicked off in June as Falher was busy and buzzing with the annual Falher Honey Festival June 13-15.
Summer officially arrived June 20 with the annual North Country Fair June 20-22 south of Driftpile with a variety of music and activities.
It was also a busy weekend in Peace River for the second annual Rotaract River Days in conjunction with World Jet Boat Races.
Out on the east end of Lesser Slave Lake, Riverboat Daze in Slave Lake returned July 4-7. Held for more than 50 years, the event features a variety of events and activities for all ages as the major event of the summer in Slave Lake.
Riverboat Daze celebrates the main mode of transportation in the early days. Since riverboats were used before railways were built in the north, they were very important to the region. Riverboats brought settlers and supplies to the north from southern parts of Alberta and Canada.
High Prairie will be the place to be for two days in the final week in July. The 63rd annual High Prairie Elks Pro Rodeo is set for July 29-30 as one of the biggest rodeos in small-town Alberta. It also features one of the longest parades in northern Alberta. All those events feature lots of fun and food for families and people of all ages.
Speaking of food – Alberta has a long and rich agriculture history that is celebrated in August. The 2025 Alberta Open Farm Days returns Aug. 16-17 to celebrate local agriculture and producers. Last year, Hedibuilt Farms south of Faust was the only participating farm in the Big Lakes County and Smoky River and Peace River regions, according to a 2024 event map. Despite the wet weekend, it attracted 330 visitors on the first day and 250 on the second day, according to Tara Hedrich, who owns the farm with her husband, Joe. They encourage more producers in the region to open their farms in the 2025 Open Farm Days that promotes agr-tourism and rural sustainability.
About 20 years ago, about 10 operators in the Falher and Nampa area opened their farm gates for the weekend event. A bus tour of the region was organized from Falher and about 30 people boarded the bus for a daylong tour. It would be great if several farm operations in the local regions would participate and a bus could be arranged for a tour.
What a wonderful way to promote the northern rural region and show people where food comes from.
Have a great summer!