‘We’re using about 50,000 corn cobs’: Manitoba festival ready to feed visitors – Winnipeg

It’s a local tradition that draws thousands of visitors to one of Manitoba’s fastest growing cities. The 2024 event will feature family-friendly entertainment, big-name Canadian headliners and, of course, corn, lots of corn.

The Morden Corn & Apple Festival, which kicks off Friday in the town near the Canada-US border, is a hit with visitors every year, even if organizers aren’t always sure why it’s so popular.

Chairman Nathan Knight told Global Winnipeg there’s plenty to do, from a concert venue featuring platinum-selling rockers 54-40 and Winnipeg’s own The Watchmen to a petting zoo, games, a farmers market and more.

The real draw, however, is the delicious corn.

“People love lining up for their free corn and apple juice,” Knight said.

“That’s something that’s baffled me for years, because in rural Manitoba you can do that any day you want, but we process about 50,000 ears of corn on the cob over the weekend.”

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Family fun to be found at the Morden Corn and Apple Festival

Knight said the focus on corn and apples is pretty simple: it’s all about celebrating the crops that the Morden region has in abundance, especially at this time of year.

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“The main focus of the very first Corn & Apple Festival was to promote the community through the farmers market – to showcase some of the produce grown in and around Morden,” Knight said.

“Corn, because it’s so readily available here, was the thing that was in the spotlight…and the apples, it’s still summer, it’s still very much summer, but next weekend is Labor Day and then we’re looking forward to fall.”

The festival, which runs until Sunday, is completely free to enter. Festival-goers can take a shuttle bus from Morden Arena to the festival site in the city centre every 15-20 minutes throughout the weekend.

Full details are available on the festival website.

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Corn and Apple Festival Draws Thousands of Manitoba Residents to Morden

© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.