It was a rain-soaked chilly weekend but that did not deter magician fans from attending Dr. Von Houligan's Carnival of Calamities at the Ol' MacDonalds campgrounds over the May-long weekend, from May 20-22.
"It was the first entertainment after the winter and was very successful," said Kevin MacDonald, co-owner of the Ol' MacDonalds Resort. "We will most likely bring him back sometime in June and again in August."
There were approximately 800 people who attended the seven shows over the weekend.
Magician Dr. Von Houligan was performing for the first time at the campgrounds.
"The audiences were really good at Ol' MacDonald's and although it is our first time here, it is the the start of our third tour."
When Houligan's event got cancelled over the weekend because the venue in Leduc he was to perform at was being used by evacuees from Fort McMurray, MacDonald and his mum Jean decided to bring him to the resort to provide some entertainment to the community.
"Mom and I thought with all the turmoil in Alberta we should try to make a few people smile," said MacDonald. "We also weren't sure if we would be able to allow camp fires, with our May-long Fireworks Show standing cancelled, but it all worked out well in the end."
The Ol' MacDonalds hosted a free Mother's Day brunch for the Fort Mac evacuees, offering them free camping, and donating all the proceeds to Red Cross, and are contemplating on offering free brunch on Father's Day.
At the first instance the resort donated a sum of $500 for Fort Mac so that Sobey's could match it.
Dr. Von Houligan said that the name of his show was titled Carnival of Calamities to give it a more 1920-30s feel.
"All the carnivals back then had names like 'Professor so and so's' or 'Ringling Bros.' etc., so my assistant and myself came up with the name," added Houligan. "The idea behind Von Houligan was to have a name that could have a double meaning."