In just four short years, organizers of the Parkland Outdoor Show and Expo have turned it into a major event.
“It’s just crazy,” said Darren Wandy, show president. “People are coming out of the woodwork. It’s not shoulder to shoulder like we had the last couple of years because we have two spaces now, but it’s busy, it’s very busy. The parking lot’s full well past A&W and they’re parking around the [race] track so we must have people here.”
With 130 booths and thousands of hunting and fishing enthusiasts coming from all over from far and wide, rumour has it that it has become the biggest in western Canada.
Wandy won’t go so far as to say that.
“I don’t know if there’s any stats on that, but when people say that it’s hard to place what that looks like. How much did you make on attendance? Ours is 10 bucks, you go somewhere else it’s 25 or 30, so you can’t do it that way. How many people did you have through the door? How many tickets did you sell? How many exhibitors did you have, or do you go by floor space?
“I think we’re the finest show, I say that because we deliver a quality product, that’s why we have 30 new exhibitors this year and we’ve had all the exhibitors we’ve had over the last couple of years come back so I think we’re the finest show and I think people are back for that reason.”
Wandy attributes the success to the treatment exhibitors receive, including help with unloading and setting up.
“They have told us they do not get that anywhere else, they pay to have people deliver their stuff they pay people to set up their stuff and when they’re here I think it’s that small town Yorkton area quality and hospitality that people come back for.”
The big name celebrities back Wandy up on that. Pat and Nicole Reeve run Driven TV, a hunting show that airs in Canada on Wild TV.
Nicole said they love doing the trade show circuit and none better than Yorkton.
“They’re so much fun,” she said. “It’s a different aspect to our life and what we get to do. We get to get out from behind the cameras and behind the whole hunting scene when we’re filming our television show and get to meet and greet the grass roots, meet and greet fans and people with our same love and passion for the outdoors and for hunting and share the big buck stories and the different hunting stories and I think that’s the best part of what we do as a job.
“I think this show, number one, it’s because of the support and the people they have running the show. They’re top notch, second to none. Darren and the rest of his team, they’re are all volunteers, but it goes beyond that, they put their heart and soul and their passion for hunting comes through to all these people who walk through the door and they see that. The vendors see that, the vendors want to be part of that, the community wants to be part of that.
Les Johnson, host of Predator Quest, which also airs on Wild TV, is the only person who ever won the triple crown of coyote calling which includes the Midwest, National and World championships. He is unequivocal about what makes the Parkland Expo great.
“Darren Wandy and all of his other helpers, just the untiring hours they’ve put into it and then having the hosts and professional people come here, just to let people know that we’re just like them, that’s what makes people excited,” he said. “I’ve seen people today from Manitoba, Alberta, one guy from British Columbia and it is, it’s the biggest show in Western Canada hands down.”
