Whether you came to ride the new “Spin Out”, sink your teeth into the “latest craze” The Glazed Donut Bacon Cheeseburger or play the newest midway game “Stinky Feet”; The Queen City Ex offered value, big name entertainment and a long list of “what’s new and exciting”. Combine all of this with almost perfect fair weather and the result was yet another new ride revenue record for North American Midway Entertainment. The pre-sale ride all day pass sales were up 4%. Overall fair attendance was down slightly 2%. When the Queen City Ex transformed into a 5 day from a 6-day fair in 2006 the attendance dropped between 10-20% for the first 2 years, but has gradually rebounded to attendance numbers comparable to the 6-day attendance numbers in 2010 and 2011.

The top two concerts of the Ex were Dierks Bentley - drawing over 10,000 fans and Down With Webster drawing over 9000 fans. Other concerts included Marianas Trench, April Wine and the Queen City Kids, Great White, Warrant & Slaughter. New attractions on the grounds this year included the Boogey Man Brigade FMX motocross show, the Trampoline Wall, the Chinese Acrobats, Stampede Wrestling, Glazed Donut Burger, Colossal Onion, the Spin Out, Bob’s Space Racers “Stinky Feet” game and “Flip A Chick”.

North American Midway thanks the Queen City Ex immensely for having the fairgrounds and their team prepared for the tight timeline of the midway move-in. The show leaves the Northlands property in Edmonton on Monday with the majority of equipment arriving Tuesday into Regina and the Queen City Ex opens early Wednesday. NAME transports several employees from Edmonton to Regina by air to ensure they get ample rest after tear down and are ready for the one-day set-up.  Other mandatory requirements include doubling up on cranes and forklifts and hiring additional labor. Thankfully when we arrive to Regina, hundreds of workers are waiting on the fairgrounds seeking employment.

The Queen City Ex implemented new security measures that they intend to expand upon for future shows as well to enhance overall security for their facility. Security performed random searches at the two main walk-in gates to ensure there were no weapons, outside alcohol or any other items deemed dangerous to the public entering the grounds. During peak hours the Ex had heightened presence of security guards and police officers. A new “texting” element was added, allowing fairgoers to text directly to security. Security cameras were also installed throughout the grounds. Additionally they added Greg Johnson the "Tornado Hunter" to their team. Greg monitored all weather during the Ex, his state of the art equipment and knowledge help predict inclement weather well before arrival. Severe weather didn't actually hit the fairgrounds this year, but the close proximity of such storms kept some fairgoers home on the Saturday.  Saturday is the busiest day of the event and attendance dropped by 12 percent from the previous year because of weather in the region.

The Queen City Ex supports many local charitable groups during and throughout the Ex.  This year they donated over 1000 gate admissions and 200 Daytrippers to local charities.  The local Dolphins Swim Team work for their funds as they are hired as the official “Clean Team” of the Queen City Ex, making it their largest team fundraiser of the year. The Queen City Kinsmen are a sixty-year tradition of the Ex with their ever-popular Car Raffle.

This was the 128th Provincial Exhibition in Regina and it attracted 70% of the people living within a 60 km radius.

Last and most definitely not least, we celebrated the 50th birthday of our International Unit President, Tony Diaz at the Queen City Ex. It was a memorable surprise evening for Tony, planned by his wife Daphne. The evening included surprise attendees, a 50th birthday video presentation along with divine cuisine. Happy 50th Tony.