Weyburn's Heritage Village will come alive with entertainment and old time activities during the Wheat Festival on Aug. 6 and 7. "The best entertainment will be at the Heritage Village stage. There's always good entertainment," said Maureen Clay, organizer of the Wheat Festival.Throughout the two days of the Wheat Festival there will be entertainment for all ages at Heritage Village with Chelsea Woodard, Mel and Friends, Tom and Lori and many more great performances at the gazebo. In addition, there will be demonstrations of sheep herding, butter churning, rope making, ice cream-making demos and other games and activities for children.In addition to the events at Heritage Village, other venues that offer activities include the Soo Line Historical Museum, Knox Hall and Signal Hill. To help residents get around to all the venues, the Wheat Festival will offer their 'people mover'. "The people mover is a favourite because it's fun to go for a ride and see the city," said Clay.The people mover will start at the City Centre Mall, go down Government Road to 10th Avenue SE. It will stop at the Tommy Douglas Centre, Signal Hill and the Pioneer Park. From there it will go down Fourth Street and to Second Avenue, in front of River Park.The people mover will travel down Third Street to stop on the west side of the Presbyterian Church, then returns to the City Centre Mall. There is an option to stop at the Museum.The Wheat Festival kicks off on Friday morning with a pancake breakfast at City Hall from 8 to 10 a.m. Then a variety of activities take place at the different venues throughout the weekend. For a detailed schedule, residents can refer to the advertisement in today's Weyburn Review.The 85th annual Horticultural Society annual show will take place at Knox Hall on Friday and Saturday. Entry books are available from the Horticulture Society or by contacting June Cull. All entrants need to be at the Hall between 7 and 9 p.m. on Friday night.A strawberry shortcake with beverages will be served both days in the tea room at Knox Hall. "The tea room is a great place to meet fellow gardeners," said Fran Messer. "People will have their fruits and vegetables on display. There will be beautiful arrangements made with wheat. It's a nice two days to see and enjoy as well enjoy a piece of strawberry shortcake.""This year, there will a garden tour put on by the Horticultural Society, which is exciting because it's something new for people to visit," stated Clay."The tour is very interesting with a lot of different yards and to see what people have done with nothing," said Messer. "The yards are beautiful with different settings and it's nice to see what people have done."The self-guided tour maps can be picked up at Knox Hall for $5 with 10 yards to see.The Soo Line Historical Museum will be having a bread-baking contest during the Wheat Festival. Clay said that this event is her favourite Wheat Festival activity because it's always interesting to see who has been baking what. The bread will be judged on Thursday at the Museum. All bread entries can be viewed at the Museum during Saturday and Sunday, when Museum volunteers will be serving Saskatoon and rhubarb pie."There are six categories for the contest and prizes for first, second and third place," said Joan Gregory. "Different people have donated gift certificates, a set of glasses and silver. The weekend is a fundraiser for the Museum and there will be free admission for everyone."At the Signal Hill Arts Centre, the second-floor gallery will feature artists, Kraig Doyle, from Weyburn, and Ben Gill, from Halbrite. "Signal Hill is open for public tours on Friday and Saturday," said Clay. "There will be displays for people to see what is happening in Weyburn's art community."One event might not happen this year at Signal Hill. "There will be no art and craft show this year," said Alice Neufeld. "But we encourage residents to check out what we have on display, the gift shop, murals on the walls throughout the building and the gallery on the second floor."A world premiere of Pamela Porter's "The Crazy Man" will be staged at the Tommy Douglas Performing Arts Centre. "The story is excellent entertainment and there's a danger of learning something too," said director John Nolan. "You can read a book, but watching it on stage makes it come to life. The play is a world premiere and has never been seen or done before, and Weyburn gets it first.""It's always entertaining to see local people performing and the building now has air conditioning," emphasized Clay. The Saskatchewan story takes place around the 1960 and will teach kids and adults what went on in regards to mental health issues, and learn about heritage and history."The Crazy Man" will be staged on Thursday, Aug. 4 to Sunday, Aug. 8, and all evenings have an 8 p.m. start time.Over at the City Centre Mall, there will be a Weyburn Farmer's Market. "The Farmer's Market is getting into the Wheat Festival spirit with activities and entertainment on Friday and Saturday," explained Clay. On both days, there will be different venues, face painting and a silent auction. Live entertainment will be featured at the Farmer's Market on Friday and a hot dog sale on Saturday. Proceeds from the hot dog sale will be donated to the Cancer Society.Another event that is held during the weekend is the Weyburn Rodeo, which takes place Saturday and Sunday. Admission for adults is $10, students $7, children $3 and pre-schoolers are free. Saturday's events will start at 5 p.m. and Sunday competition starts at 8 a.m.One of the last events of the weekend will be the interdenominational church service, hosted at the Weyburn Comp Cafetorium on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. There will be a mass choir from all participating churches.
