Step right up! Carnival midway back in business

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This article was published 04/09/2021 (1807 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After nearly two years, the show is — finally — going on.

Wonder Shows, a made-in-Manitoba travelling carnival, is wrapping up its six-week stay at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre on Monday. The Family Fun Summer Fair has been the company’s first event since 2019, owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I definitely am feeling hopeful for next year, that things will be back to normal,” owner Ken Kiernicki says. “It’s been a struggle.”

Kiernicki, 57, has been working in the business since he was 12 years old. He’s had a hand in every aspect of the midway, from running rides to operating food trucks to managing carnival games. In 2000, he purchased Wonder Shows from Henry Saluk, who founded the company in 1963.

During an average summer season, the carnival pops up at roughly 23 major fairs and festivals around Manitoba, such as the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba in Gimli and the Morden Corn and Apple Festival. The last 18 months have been wholly devoid of carnival fun — the ferris wheel has gone unspun, the apples uncandied and the moles unwhacked.

“It’s been very stressful with no income, but we did keep a few guys in the shop and we were constantly working… maintaining the equipment and getting ready for when we got the word to come out,” ​​says Kiernicki, who employs between 40 and 50 people with some seasonal workers coming from foreign countries, such as Jamaica.

Like many service industries, Wonder Shows has had a hard time finding enough staff to replace workers who moved on to other jobs amid the pandemic.

There are about 30 rides, games and food stands currently set up in the parking lot of the Victoria Inn at 1808 Wellington Ave. It’s a relief to see people enjoying the midway again.

“The response is very good,” Kiernicki says. “People were sure looking forward to this kind of entertainment.”

Weather permitting, the Family Fun Summer Fair runs Saturday through Monday from noon to 10 p.m. Wristbands are $25 each. Proof of vaccination is not required to enter, hand-sanitizer stations are set up throughout the grounds and rides are sanitized at regular intervals.

Wonder Shows will also be running rides at this year’s Boo at the Zoo event at Assiniboine Park Zoo in October. Visit wondershows.com to learn more.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney