Madison Taylor
Culture Editor

A busker at the Broadway Street Fair strums soulfully on his resonator guitar.

Broadway Avenue is undoubtedly one of Saskatoon’s trendiest districts. It is the place to take a first-timer to the city, the place to take a date, the place to shop for unique local swag and it is home to a variety of yearly festivals and events — the smallest and most intimate of which being the Broadway Street Fair.

The Broadway Street Fair celebrated its 31st birthday this year on Sept. 6. The five-block fairgrounds were flooded with well over 1,000 locals and tourists alike after opening at 10 a.m. as the party kept going all day long.

For those early risers, the event kicked off with a pancake breakfast and miniature parade. Throughout the afternoon the streets filled with vendors, vintage European cars supplied by the Saskatchewan British Car Club and displays of pottery, woodwork, and paintings from local artisans.

The surrounding Broadway businesses supplied stacks upon stacks of books, rows of running shoes and endless racks of clothes on sale that lined the sidewalk, offering special one day promotions for eager shoppers to take advantage of.

Broadway Street Fair is most unique in its ability to provide local vendors with the opportunity to display and sell their work — as opposed to the Fringe Festival, which places a larger emphasis on provincial and nation-wide artists.

Many booths were recognizable as being from local businesses and designers, offering creative pieces such as graffiti welcome signs by Saskatoon-based artist Ryan Kerpan, an assortment of beautiful hand-made jewelry and a wide variety of independently published books sold out of Broadway’s Turning the Tide bookstore.

Some of Saskatoon’s finest food trucks also made an appearance, offering delicious treats to fair-goers. Thrive Juice, Ace Burger, Pineapple Express and Snak Truck were just a handful of the options available that made it out to the street fair — one of their last major events before the busy festival season meets its untimely end.

Live performers dotted the sidewalk throughout the day, showcasing everything from Ukrainian dancing, Riverdance, magic shows and cheerleading demonstrations to local busking talent. In addition to passive entertainment, the fair encouraged attendees to take an active role in the fun — offering a dunk tank, bouncy castles, life-sized root beer pong game, super slide and pie throwing contest for the pleasure of its participants.

An annual event that allows kids to act their age — and adults to forget theirs — the Broadway Street Fair celebrates all that is summertime fun.

Taking place on the Saturday after Labour Day every year when the days begin to shorten and the weather takes a down spiral, it acts as an epitaph to the last days of summer that Saskatonians are so reluctant to let go.

The warmest months of the year are undeniably when the city feels most alive and it is difficult to accept that we must say goodbye to the gooey food truck burgers and half-melted ice cream cones and start bundling up for that infamous Saskatchewan winter.

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Photo: Jeff Glasel