Canadian Western Agribition, otherwise known as simply Agribition, is an annual agricultural trade show held at
REAL District in
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...
, typically held during the last week of November.
History
The first Agribition show was held in Regina from November 30 to December 3, 1971, and has taken place every year since. Chris Sutter of Redvers, Saskatchewan was the first president of Canadian Western Agribition. Bill Small of Craven, Saskatchewan was the show's first vice-president. A book which chronicled the first 29 years of the show, titled ''Agribition'', was published in 1990.
Agribition was to celebrate its 50th year in 2020; it was scheduled to be delayed slightly in order to accommodate the
108th Grey Cup, which was to be hosted by nearby
Mosaic Stadium
Mosaic Stadium is an open-air stadium at REAL District in Regina, Saskatchewan. Announced on July 12, 2012, the stadium replaced Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field as the home field of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders. It was ...
. The event was cancelled and replaced by a
virtual event
A virtual event is an online event that involves people interacting in a virtual environment on the web, rather than meeting in a physical location. Virtual events are typically multi-session online events that often feature webinars and webca ...
due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Agribition returned as an in-person event with virtual components in 2021; organizers projected attendance to have been just over 85,000, a decrease from the 121,000 who attended in 2019. Organizers cited COVID-19 protocols (including Saskatchewan's
proof of vaccination
A vaccine passport or proof of vaccination is an immunity passport employed as a credential in countries and jurisdictions as part of efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic via COVID-19 vaccine, vaccination. A vaccine passport is typically i ...
rules), a lack of school visitors, and reduced international attendance as factors in the decline, but noted that there was increased interest in its online content. The 2022 show was again scheduled later than usual due to the
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...
.
Events
Agribition is primarily driven by a wide range of
livestock shows, cattle sales, agricultural trade displays and business conferences but other events like
rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
,
freestyle bullfighting, and
horse pulling
Horse pulling is a draft horse competition where horses in horse harness, harness, usually two animals, pull a stone-boat or weighted sled and the winner is the team or animal that can pull the most weight for a short distance. There are differ ...
also fill in Agribition's daily schedule every year.
Livestock prominently featured at the show include various breeds of
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
such as
Simmentals,
Red Angus, and
Maine-Anjou. Other specialty livestock also participate in Agribition like
bison
A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American ...
,
alpacas and
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
,
but on a much smaller scale compared to cattle.
See also
*
Agriculture in Saskatchewan
References
External links
*
Culture of Regina, Saskatchewan
Rodeos
Exhibitions in Canada
Equestrian sports in Canada
Agricultural fairs in Canada
Tourist attractions in Regina, Saskatchewan
Fall in Canada
{{Rodeo-stub