A FEW MORE DAYS OF FUN IN SUMMER

It has finally arrived, that Dickensian “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” moment that marks the last, bittersweet gasp of summer vacation for more than 600,000 kids enrolled in British Columbia’s schools. The “worst” bit of the equation for the reading, writing and arithmetic set is the looming end of holidays. The “best” bit is that the signal for the imminent arrival of a new year in the classroom is not just mom nagging about finding time for those “Back to School” sales but Saturday’s opening of the 102nd edition of the Pacific National Exhibition.

Classrooms and assemblies may await but there’s still a chance for a few more days of freedom and denial at the province’s biggest annual ticketed event. There are rides for the teenagers like “The Beast” or “The Revelation,” delightful for the way they cause parents to cringe. And carnival treats that cause parents who advance the demand for healthy cafeteria food to wince (more than 33,000 cotton candies; more than 6,000 deep fried Mars bars; 21,000 corn dogs) — and sneak one of those 2.5 million mini doughnuts before skedaddling with the little ones for a more sedate experience at the Merry-GoRound or Balloon Explorers.

Some might sign up for the Donut Dash, the five-kilometre race that offers guilt-free incentives like Oreo churros en route to the finish line.

Every fall fair represents an eternal invitation to suspend disbelief. This year’s PNE is no exception, whether it’s visiting the distant future at the Alien Worlds exhibit, visiting the distant past in the display of Jurassic age dinosaurs, or visiting another dimension of the Angry Birds Universe, which promises people they can enter the world of the popular digital video game for a total body experience featuring zip lines.

However, there’s something for everyone, which is the hallmark of every good fair. Technophobes can find solace at the Pacific Spirit Horse Show or the 4-H Festival; the classically inclined can go and hear the Mermaids sing or wonder at the keyboard skills of the Duelling Pianos; and everyone can marvel at the SuperDogs.

Yet, the fact is that the pragmatic reality of this iconic end-of-summer celebration is as important as the confectionary of thrills and illusions with which it distracts and amuses British Columbians from Atlin to Zeballos and all points in between.

It’s important to the regional and provincial economy. And it’s important to our collective psychology; a beacon of optimism and good cheer.

More than nine million visitors have attended the fair over the last decade, including the gloomy 2008 of the global economic meltdown and the ferocious windstorm of 2015 that left hundreds of thousands across the Lower Mainland without power for days. Nevertheless, those visitors provided the non-profit fair with more than $280 million in revenue.

Generation after generation, through world wars, depressions, booms and natural disasters, the PNE has endured, evolved and expanded. Perhaps because, when all’s said and done, it’s hard to imagine a better way for young people to forget about the end of lazy summer holidays and the start of school, homework and the relentless march toward grown-up cares and responsibilities and for their parents to experience the carefree feelings of childhood again, however briefly.

And it’s important to our collective psychology; a beacon of optimism.