One hundred and fifty years of the Portage Ex

Picture this: It’s been another long, hot Manitoba summer, filled with the usual trials and tribulations of life as a pioneer on the rich agricultural lands of the west. The year’s harvest has been stored for the winter, waiting to be used for feed or sold to feed the world. It’s a cool fall morning, and you are preparing to head to the western edge of town to experience what would become the longest running fair in Manitoba. The Winnipeg newspaper declared it to have “surpassed expectations” with “400 entries” for an event organized by the Marquette Agricultural Society.

The date was October 16, 1872, and the community of Portage la Prairie in the County of Marquette was experiencing the first successful Western Canadian Agricultural Exhibition. The location of that first fair was in the neighbourhood of 18th Street West, and it was an unqualified success. Within 20 years, attendance at the fair was reported to have exceeded 25,000!

By 1894, the organization had evolved into the Portage and Lakeside Agricultural Society and the fair moved to its current location next to Island Park. This was also the first year the fair was held in the summer, taking place on July 19-20, 1894.

By 1907, the Portage Industrial Exhibition Association had been incorporated and added an additional 15 acres and several new buildings to the grounds.

And so it was 150 years ago with the birth of an annual tradition that has become mainstay for many families in the Portage area. The Portage Fair − or Portage Ex as it’s often called − has gone through many changes over 150 years.

Since the early years in the late 1800s, the Portage Fairgrounds have hosted livestock and horse shows like those that took place back in the early days of the community. With large, open greenspace and several barns onsite to house the animals and showrings for competitions, the fairgrounds are still used every year for everything from livestock breed shows and 3D Barrel-Racing to gospel tents and the RCMP Musical Ride.

The biggest changes, however, have taken place in the last 25 years. After over 100 years of racing of both animals and machines, the Portage Ex Racetrack had run its course (no pun intended), and an opportunity presented itself that resulted in the construction of what is now Stride Place, a recreational facility for the benefit of the entire community.

This 25-year period also saw the construction of a new Portage Fair Office and Boardroom and the new MNP Exhibition Building. Both facilities are available for rental for functions ranging from meetings and family gatherings to socials, weddings, and trade shows. Both buildings were also used as additional classroom space during the COVID pandemic.

The change that results in bringing in the most people from outside of the community and many glowing reviews is the Portage Ex Campground. There are 44 sites serviced with power and water, and the campground is within walking distance of Stride Place, the Portage Golf Club, and the downtown businesses.

In 2021, the Portage Ex Campground went online with www. campreservations.ca, so now all reservations can be made by accessing the link on our website at www. portageex.com .

There have been many changes to the Portage Fair and fairgrounds over the last 150 years, and there will no doubt continue to be in the future. Our goal as an organization harkens back to what we believe was the goal of Kenneth McKenzie and his brethren all those years ago – to provide familyfriendly activities to the people of the community, maintain strong relations with others in the community, be a good neighbour, and do our best to adapt to the changing needs of our community.

Join us for what we hope to be the beginning of the next 150 years of the Portage Ex on July 7, 8 & 9, 2023!