The Cochrane Fair hosted by the Cochrane and District Agricultural Society (CDAS) hit a home run this past weekend.

Thousands upon thousands of people attended the fair which ran from August 18-20, providing entertainment for young and old.

Bringing together the love of country with an urban twist there was something for everyone. A marketplace, rodeo events, lumberjacks, midway rides, a bench show and more were all part of the activities. There was so much going on throughout the day that it was difficult to squeeze it all in.

While the board tallies up how many people entered the gate, Molly Sapergia, General Manager of CDAS, believes they were well up from 12,000 attendees in 2016. "There was certainly a lot more cars and a lot more people milling around. I was really, really impressed with everything, it blew us away. How fantastic it was, how much the community stepped up and supported us, how much the sponsors supported us, workers and staff, it was incredible."

Nice weather attributed to the event's success but so did the fact that event goers felt they got their money's worth. "I was talking to one of the sponsors of the bull riding who had their staff here and they said they just had so much fun because they started at the midway with the kids and then they came over to the market place and then they took the kids to the kid zone and had something to eat and then they all went to the bull riding. So they thought it was such a great family day."

Pairing western agriculture and urban demand is something Sapergia feels they do right and will continue to grow upon. "We will be bringing in some different acts for sure. We are definitely going to expand on the youth rodeo component, we've got meetings coming up right away deciding how we're going to manage that. We could look at making it an all day Friday event rather than just opening at 4 and that might be where we go but that is definitely a committee decision."

One of the major discussions will be whether bull riding returns next year or in what capacity. "It was certainly successful and the turnout....there was like standing room only. We can definitely add more bleacher space and bleachers up to the top which would be a fantastic viewing area, so we have some options there. I am pretty sure it will be back."

The economic impact could be felt all over town from hotels being booked full to bars being frequented; the Cochrane Fair did what Sapergia and her team set out to do. "That is exactly what we want to do is make it a community event where we partner. That is exactly why we did bring in the Bearspaw bench and the classic bull riding and make it a partnership event that can benefit from one location."

Sponsors are already ringing up Sapergia to be part of the Fair in 2018; the board will look to debrief in the interim and make some decisions based on sponsorship, volunteers, and ideas for next summer.