‘Spud’-tacular opening
Founding fathers attend festival’s 50th anniversary official kickoff
Faye MacWilliams has a simple wish for O’Leary’s 50th annual Prince Edward Island Potato Blossom Festival.
“I want people to come out and enjoy themselves,” the festival’s chairwoman said following official opening ceremonies Monday night at the Canadian Potato Museum.
Among those in attendance at the opening were the last surviving members of the committee that planned the first Potato Blossom Festival in 1968, Stanley MacDonald and Alden Weeks. MacDonald was one of the original eight committee members and Weeks was part of the next wave of eight volunteers who joined during the second organizing meeting.
The pair, who cut a potato to get the golden anniversary festival underway, marvelled how the festival has not only endured and grown but has helped spawn other tributes to O’Leary’s vibrant potato industry, including the Canadian Potato Museum and the giant potato.
Standing in the shadow of the giant potato in front of the museum, MacDonald admitted it has served as a great advertisement for the museum and the festival.
Weeks and MacDonald will be the festival’s parade marshals on Saturday. MacDonald recalls the parade has been a festival feature from the start.
This year, the organizing committee has brought back an event which proved popular in the festival’s
early years: a bicycle, tricycle and doll carriage parade. It will be held at the Community Sports Centre Saturday at 9 a.m., and MacWilliams knows the excitement is building.
“Oh, they’re so excited,” she said of children who plan to enter.
There’s also a waiting list of performers wanting to take part in Saturday’s Summerside Chrysler Dodge adult singing contest.
Other feature events include the Miss P.E.I. Potato Blossom Festival Pageant, the Farmers Awards Banquet Friday night, the memorial spud run, parade, harness racing and Canadian potato peeling championship on Saturday and P.E.I. washer toss championship, car show and fireworks on Sunday.
“If the potato festival hadn’t been started, things like that may have never happened,” Weeks reflected.
Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Robert Henderson announced during the opening ceremonies that he will be entering a team in the Canadian PotatoPeeling championship, and he laid down a challenge to opposition leader James Aylward to enter a team. In his remarks, Henderson described Prince Edward Island’s potato industry as a world leader and the festival’s original committee as visionary.
Weeks agreed.
“It promotes the industry and it certainly acknowledges the area, which is a potato-growing area, for sure,” he said. “A lot of farmers appreciate the attention which is drawn to the industry.”
Among the special events commemorating the 50th anniversary celebration will be a stage appearance Thursday night during the 2018 Miss Potato Blossom pageant by past Miss Potato Blossom queens.