Under a bright sun and high summer temperatures, throngs of people gathered once again on Sunday at Kempenfest.
Midway rides were packed with children of all ages, carnival games were played, with countless prizes won.
There is a classic ferris wheel, a miniature roller coaster, gravity-defying thrill rides, a giant slide, and much more along Kempenfelt Bay all weekend.
“I like making people happy,” Faith, one of the carnival workers running a ball game booth, told BarrieToday in between customers. “No one is having a bad day.”
She has been working the midway for six years now, and hails from Brantford.
“There’s no words for it to be honest, I just get extremely happy inside, it just fills me with joy.”
Hendrix, an 8-year-old from Barrie, is having a blast at this year’s event.
His favourite activity so far is the Monkey Maze. “I haven’t won on it yet, but it’s a maze, and I love mazes, and I love monkeys,” he stated emphatically.
Meanwhile, Abygail, 10, also from Barrie, is clearly a thrill-seeker and a fan of the Drop Zone tower. “I like it when you go down really fast,” she said of the free-falling ride.
Their friend Antwon, also 8, enjoys the gaming side of the carnival and winning prizes. He hasn’t been victorious yet, but it’s still early in the day, and he's on the hunt to win a “big stuffie”, specifically a Squirtle, which is a popular turtle-like Pokemon character.
Eight-year-old Lincoln of Barrie, meanwhile, hasn’t decided yet what is best about the Kempenfest entertainment this summer, but he is enjoying all of what he has seen so far.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs, “everything,” he said impatiently as he scans the site for the next bit of fun to try out.
The group said they haven’t had time to get snacks yet, which is on their to-do list, but the day is still young and there are more rides to ride and prizes to be won.
When the sun starts to sink this evening, the music entertainment will be heating up with Saturday night’s headliner Matthew Good taking the stage at 8:30 p.m., supported by Crown Lands at 7:20 p.m., Bleeker at 6:25, p.m., and Grant Boyer kicking off the OLG Main Stage at 5:30 p.m.
