The spring Home and Garden Show has expanded once again and laid claim to the entire Canadian Lakehead Exhibition fairgrounds.
The 15th annual weekend-long event is now underway on the CLE grounds. The more than 300 exhibits and booths can be found at all six buildings, including the Sports Dome. The show originated as a yard and garden show for 10 years before eventually becoming the event it is today.
Show chairwoman Judy Anderson said it’s the first time they’ve had all six buildings. With tens of thousands expected to attend the show this weekend, Anderson said they’ve squeezed in as many booths as they could. “We have six buildings this year because Badanai Motors took the Scarnati building and they are there for the whole show,” Anderson said. “It’s very hard to put this together especially when it comes down to the last week because you can’t do a lot ahead of time because the buildings are being used. We’re all volunteers other than the Dome.”
Anderson believes the loss of a number of other trade shows over the years may have contributed to the success of the Home and Garden show. But the main draw she said is that this time of year is when people are tired of winter and are looking forward to it being spring.
She added that the show is also a good opportunity for businesses to network.
Brandon Postuma, owner of the Kakabeka Depot and Horse Hut, and Sarah Bell made some last minute preparations before the show officially started including making sure their live chickens were ready for display.
It’s the first time that Postuma had a booth at the Home and Garden show and said it’s a good opportunity for a local business to show what they have to offer to a large volume of people. “We’re really excited because we get to promote all the new leather ariat boots,” he said. “Ariat boots are new to Thunder Bay and the rest of Ontario. They’re high quality boots so it allows us to show people what we sell outside of the city.”
The Home and Garden show concludes on Sunday at 4 p.m.
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