Complete with bouncy castles, sports and a brand new lawnmower racing event, Jarvie Days was back and with a youthful appeal July 23-24.
Jarvie Community Council member Andrea Gibson said organizers shifted the focus to the youngsters this year and the response was phenomenal.
“Usually when the parade is over, everybody and their family goes home because there’s nothing really to do,” Gibson said.
“Now with everything going on, the carnival, the bouncy houses, lawnmower races and the trades fair, they’re staying.
“It’s been awesome.”
The new popularity presented a new problem for organizers at their kickoff breakfast on Saturday morning.
“We ran out of pancakes and eggs, which I don’t think has ever happened,” Gibson said.
While Jarvie Days has always been a fixture, with younger families in the area and more kids the focus of the weekend needed to change.
“I think that we really needed to bring in the more family-focused entertainment,” Gibson said.
“The kids are having a blast.”
The new community centre, which used to be the Jarvie School, has provided a venue for food and to house the trade show.
“It’s a multi-purpose recreational area where we can all get together and hold all our community events in,” Gibson said.
The lawnmower races, which were loosely based on the Nintendo game Mario Kart, was also a hit with the Jarvie faithful, drawing a sizable crowd on Saturday afternoon.
More than a dozen racers hit the track set up in the old school field.
Given the success of this year’s version, Gibson said the new format is likely to stick.
“With the good response that we’re getting, I’m hoping that when we go back to council after it all, that we get to do more and expand on it,” she said.
“Maybe do a three-day event so we can have it back on the long weekend.”
Ultimately, Gibson said the event is designed to give back to the community.
“They do so much, they help clean up and they help with all the other events that go on, so it’s nice to give back to them as a free event,” she said.
