The Calnash Ag Event Centre is truly one of Ponoka’s gems, and puts this town on the map, bringing visitors in with the events it holds year-round. It’s a big boon to the agricultural community and the town as a whole.
Some major changes came for the Calnash this past year, with the completion of its much-anticipated Phase III Cattle Pavilion.
Construction on the project began in June, 2019. The new roof enclosed the area between the main arena and the barn, an area of about 68,000 square feet, and was completed in the fall.
The reason for the project was to improve the safety for livestock and the ability to grow cattle-related events, such as bull sales and cattle shows.
The new roof features a ventilation system, ensuring quality of air for the cattle penned underneath (up to a couple of hundred head).
Enclosing the area is also safer for cattle as they won’t be travelling over ice and snow during winter months, and will improve cleanliness as the livestock won’t be tracking in mud during the spring and summer months.
There are 200 permanent stalls which are used for horses and 82 portable stalls, which can be dismantled to make room for cattle pens.
The Ag event centre is also able to host a wider variety of events now, thanks to a new land use bylaw that gives a broader definition of the allowed activities at the centre.
The Calnash can now hold non-agricultural events such as trade shows, vehicle shows and sales, concerts and festivals, and incidental uses such as food and beverage concessions, restaurants, food catering facilities as well as leasing space for office use and livestock handling related uses.
The Ponoka Agricultural Event Centre Society took over operations of the building at the start of 2019.
For the most current information, visit www.paecs.com.
