The Town of St. Walburg welcomed between 5,500 and 7,000 visitors as it hosted its 36th annual Wild Blueberry Festival.
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The two-day event, held along the town’s main streets, featured a lineup of local food, community gatherings and entertainment. Mayor Nancy Schneider noted a strong turnout as word of mouth continued to draw crowd numbers well beyond the town’s regular population.
“What started as a fairly small event has really morphed into a big two-day event in our town,” Schneider said, attributing the festival’s sustained growth to community support and visiting families returning year after year.
The festivities kicked off Friday evening with a community supper at the St. Walburg Parish Centre. Saturday’s schedule included an 8 a.m. pancake breakfast in front of the Catholic Church, followed by an outdoor craft and food market that ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Live music, children’s activities and street vendors took over the downtown area throughout the day.
A central draw of the weekend was the Show & Shine Vehicle Display, co-ordinated by local volunteers. The showcase featured more than 100 classic cars and trucks.
For local businesses and residents, the annual surge in visitors offered both an economic boost and a chance to highlight regional tourism.
“It’s good for everybody to come out and enjoy our town,” Schneider said. “We have a great community and I think that’s really partly why people keep coming back.”
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