Rainmaker Festival kicks off with wonderful weather in St. Albert
![Rainmaker Festival 2024 Rainmaker Festival midway in St. Albert on May 25, 2024. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/5/25/rainmaker-festival-2024-1-6900995-1716670695690.jpg)
The Rainmaker Festival kicked off in St. Albert Friday.
The weekend-long event features a parade, midway, live music and a rodeo with 10 events for adults and youth.
The festival has been a staple in St. Albert for almost five decades.
"We've been doing this for a long time," said James Boylan of the St. Albert Kinsmen Club, which organizes the annual event.
The event is volunteer-run and all funds raised are donated to charity.
Marco Bombino with Kinsmen club said it's the club's biggest fundraiser of the year, with around 35,000 visitors expected over the weekend.
"It's gotten bigger and bigger every year," Bombino said. "It's just a lot of fun for the community."
Saturday's festival wraps up at 11 p.m. after a country music concert featuring the James Barker Band, Jaquie Daniels, Steven Lee Olsen and Justin Sutton.
The event returns on Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with several shows, a petting zoo and eight rodeo events including bare-back riding and steer wrestling.
Tickets can be bought on the Rainmaker Festival website.
A free park-and-ride shuttle is running to the rodeo from the Nakî Transit Centre. The full schedule can be found here.
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