Anyone who took in the festivities during Moose Kinsmen Sidewalk Days Festival in downtown Moose Jaw over the past three days had much the same experience.
Plenty to see and do, all sorts of deals from Main Street shops and thousands upon thousands of like-minded folks.
It all made for one of the biggest and best Sidewalk Days yet, featuring record support throughout the event.
“We calculated that we had the biggest one-day attendance we’ve ever had (Friday),” said Sidewalk Days chair Jacki L’Heureux Mason. “It was packed from literally the moment we opened up and then even though the vendors were closed and things were packing up, there were still around 500 people in the street, at least. So that was just amazing to see.”
It certainly didn’t hurt that all three days were warm and sunny from start to finish, something that’s become a bit of a thing for Sidewalk Days in recent years. That brought out more people, and those folks had all sorts of booths to check out, covering nine blocks of Main Street all the way from Ross Street down to Manitoba Street.
Those booths featured just about everything one could imagine, too -- from face painting and henna tattoos to delicious food and drink, combined with all the shopping opportunities one could imagine.
“We had more booth spaces filled than ever before, almost every space was filled up,” L’Heureux Mason said, adding that they had 30 more vendors than in 2022 and 197 in total, only five off the previous record.
“It wasn’t the highest number of vendors we’ve had, but it was the second highest and that shows that they’re seeing the value in this and want to keep coming back.”
That kind of support from the business community extends into helping out with Sidewalk Days, too, especially when it comes to any issues that might crop up.
“The one thing that keeps me going every year is the community support that we get,” L’Heureux Mason said. “We’re starting to collect these patron saints of Sidewalk Days. I don’t have a generator, Travis Penna shows up with whatever we need. We need a little help with the stage, Matt Brewer shows up with whatever we need. And businesses like Evenwalk Concrete and South Country Equipment were there when we needed them, too… it all makes a huge difference to how well things run.”
The event was the first under the full sponsorship of the Moose Jaw Kinsmen, and their additional support played a large role in how things played out in 2023.
“When we started, we put the whole thing together for around $8,800, so we know we can get a lot done with limited funds, but having the Kinsmen step up just allowed us to bring in so many things in every department,” L’Heureux Mason said.
“It’s so nice, because we’re not supported by any other organization other than the Kinsmen, so we’re picking bits and pieces and it’s awesome to have people step and help out when we need it.”
Then, of course, there are the volunteers. Fittingly, a record number of helpers took part in Sidewalk Days 2023, helping with everything from the bouncy castles to making sure all the musical performances went off without a hitch.
“We’ve never, ever had this many volunteers before,” L’Heureux Mason said. “Sixty three was our max, we had 87 this year, and it was awesome to have that much help. It was really great this year.”
L’Heureux Mason also made a point of thanking her organizing committee -- Paige McClinton, Everley Reid, Darlene Guy, Trish German and Heather MacNevin -- for their effort in pulling everything together.
“The crew I had this year just made things run so smoothly right from the start,” she said.
Now, it’s a bit of time to relax before planning begins on a bigger and better Sidewalk Days in 2024, if that’s even possible.
“I’m a change-or-die person and we’ll always be tweeking a few things to try and make it even better, but we’re really happy with how things went and we’ll see what we come up with next year,” L’Heureux Mason said.
