There was a golden era – literally – for the popular summer festival today known as KDays, but not in terms of quality. The Edmonton Expo Centre attraction, which is nearly 150 years old, has come a long way since its humble Wild West nod to the Canadian Gold Rush in the 1960s back when it was called Klondike Days. “We’ve been a fair in Edmonton since before Edmonton was officially a city,” Explore Edmonton communications director Amanda Krumins told CTV News Edmonton from the midway on Wednesday. “Klondike Days was a celebration of our connection as the gateway to the north, and that included the gold rush. When I was five years old, I can remember coming here and panning for gold with my family.” Before that – in the years after its 1879 inception – the event was known as the Edmonton Exhibition and held at the original Fort Edmonton site. “Probably 115 years ago there would have been a midway here. It wouldn’t have been very much. There might have been a ferris wheel and a merry-go-round … A lot of gambling, a lot of sideshows,” North American Midway Entertainment vice president Scooter Korek explained. “Sideshows were here when I was here in the early 1980s – Cuban oddities, maybe some Greek shows, burlesque shows … But public tastes have changed.” Organizers still embrace the 20th-century iterations of the festival with Klondike Park, a blast from the past that invites attendees to search for something shiny and enjoy themed old-timey entertainment. Klondike Mike is part of that entertainment, a 36-foot fibreglass statue that greets visitors at the fairground’s main gate as a reminder of where the midway started. And while many just enjoy coming down casually to enjoy a corn dog or a ride, some fairgoers still stepped back in time to celebrate the themed heritage day on Wednesday with vigour. Klondike Kate, for example, who comes decked out in era-appropriate attire each year. “Klondike Days is Klondike Days to me … I grew up with it, and I loved Klondike Days when people dressed up,” she told CTV News Edmonton. Organizers are now looking ahead to 2029, the official 150th birthday of what we know as KDays. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti
