The first Stettlerfest took place on Saturday, August 24. The Stettler Regional Board and Community Development hosted the event along most of Main Street.
Organizers changed their major summer event to a community Market format, instead of the popular Long Table event which started back in 2017.
The main reason for the change was the recent closing of a Main Street eatery that had been the chef for the event. Although organizers were sad to cancel the traditional dining event which saw paying guests enjoying a high-quality meal at a long table on Main Street, they were hopeful to keep some momentum and provide the community with another major event for everyone to enjoy.
In addition to several vendors on hand, the Board of Trade provided the activities from the Stettler Health and Wellness trailer, including bean bag toss, oversized Jenga, and sidewalk chalk for kids.
Several live musical performers entertained crowds at different points of the two closed blocks of the street
Board of Trade project manager Coralie Cherewko spoke about some of the problems they had faced with the event.
Cherewko says that they had carefully selected the vendors they had at the market to make the first Stettlerfest a unique experience.
However, there were problems booking some vendors as it was relatively late in the season when they put the event together, and many had already committed to be elsewhere.
Another problem was the weather. Although it was sunny during the day, a strong wind had picked up and many artisans slated to be in attendance had cancelled for fear the wind could damage their works.
Despite the few setbacks that often come with a first-time event, Cherewko was in good spirits of the event. Board of Trade executive director Byron Geddes estimated around 300-400 people ended up attending the event.
According to Geddes, "The attendees and businesses were both very happy with the event."
"We had great entertainment, great food, and great weather," said Geddes.
