Parade kicks off Lloyd Ex Fair

from the top overall float to the most informative.

An impressive number of floats graced the streets of Lloydminster yesterday for the annual parade to kick off this year’s fair.

“Part of the judging will also be based on our theme. Our theme this year is called ‘Times are changin’,” said Eyben.

The parade route was slightly different this year due to the construction going on in the heart of the city, but that hasn’t affected the registration numbers.

“There’s more entries than we’ve had in several years,” said Eyben.

Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Association Marketing Manager, Tara Eyben, says the numbers were teetering on recordbreaking.

“We are actually getting close to a recordbreaking number of floats this year. We’re currently at 117,” said Eyben.

“I believe whenever they do the setup they always aim for at least 60, and I think between 80-95 is the typical number (of floats).”

Parade judges will award prizes in several different categories,

“Our honorary parade Marshall this year is Dr. Nekky Jamal,” she added.

Another exciting thing about this year’s parade is that both city marching bands were able to participate for the first time since COVID.

“We actually both school divisions this year–we have the marching bands back in the parade,” said Eyben. She said streets which were designated for the parade remained closed until all entries returned to the fairgrounds, which was estimated to take an hour and a half.