The B.C. Northern Exhibition, formerly known as the Prince George Exhibition, invites guests to Go Big from August 7 to 10 at the exhibition grounds.
"It's going to be a much, much larger show than in previous years," said Alex Huber, president of the Prince George Agriculture and Historical Society that hosts the exhibition. "People are talking about Bob Blumer (celebrity chef) hosting the Iron Chef Prince George. They will be taking over the entire Kin 2. There's going to be cook-offs, ethnic food sampling, wine tasting - it's a crowd I've never had before - the working professional crowd - they don't like rides and they don't like cotton candy, so they haven't come before."
There's a professional and amateur motocross. Huber said it's important to let the local kids showcase their talent as well.
There's a grand champion cattle display and there hasn't been cattle at the fair in seven years, so Huber said he's happy they could get that component back to emphasize the agricultural aspect of the fair.
Pacific Western Brewery is hosting the Cariboo Zone on the fair grounds with a mechanical bull tournament, while mountain bikers entertain audiences with tricks done on a man-made hill.
"Now that Kin 1 is finished, all my vendors will be in there," said Huber. "We're closing out the show with Alice in Chains and the concert ticket includes entrance into the fair, so you can spend all day at the fair and then go see Alice in Chains in the evening."
The 135 teams will be participating in a sanctioned team penning event this year.
There's a heavy horse pull competition this year, the largest in Canada outside of the Calgary Stampede, said Huber, who has a farming background.
"This is always a very popular event," said Huber. "Those Clydesdales are amazing - that's 2,000 pounds of moving muscle and to coordinate a team takes quite the horsemanship to get them all going in the same line."
There's also barrel racing, a heritage horse display, and the Hoof 'n' Woof - dogs herding cattle.
"We kind of drifted away from the agricultural side of the fair," said Huber. "It's basically what started our fair and it's important that we go back to it, showcasing both agriculture and our local history."
A family-friendly change is the family-of-four rate of $25 to get into the fair.
"The fair belongs to everybody, so we wanted to make sure it's affordable," said Huber.
For all the details visit www.bcne.ca.
