This year's perk at the Saxonburg Carnival: free admission
Plans for the annual Saxonburg Carnival have come together at the last minute with a bonus for attendees: no admission fee.
The carnival materialized later than usual this year after it initially was called off at the beginning of the year.
The event was canceled last year, and ongoing coronavirus guidance has led the organizers, the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company, to make a few changes this time around.
While it will be a little smaller than usual, the carnival will be free of charge this year.
“Because of the sponsorships, we are able to have free gates,” said Paul Donaldson, chairman of event arnival. “With the year everyone has been having, we tried to put something together that would be enjoyable for the kids.”
According to Donaldson, the carnival, on the fire company’s grounds, will resemble the food truck events hosted in Saxonburg, rather than a large fair.
Donaldson said the organizers hired a different ride company this year, which is bringing eight to 10 rides to the carnival, as well as games and some food vendors. There also will be about 8 to 10 food trucks and vendors throughout the four-day event.
Donaldson said the ride company, Penn Premier Shows, has a cleaning policy in place for COVID-19 prevention.
The organizers planned the event to be a “back to school-style” activity, Donaldson said, while omitting some activities normally conducted, such as the fireman’s parade, the car raffle and the signature event of the water battle, in which people spray a barrel in a competition resembling a tug of war.
“The parades and water battle are the biggest things people are going to miss,” Donaldson said. “We’re not ruling anything out for next year, but we just weren’t able to put it together for this one.”
The carnival serves as an annual fundraiser for the Saxonburg VFC. But Donaldson said being able to have it this year will probably excite many people.
“It’s a fundraiser for us, but people have always looked forward to the Saxonburg Carnival,” Donaldson said. “We wanted to be able to do something for them.”
The Saxonburg Carnival opens at 6 p.m. Aug. 18 and Aug. 20, and at 4 p.m. Aug. 21 at the Saxonburg VFC grounds.
More information on the carnival is available at svfc.com, including ride ticket preorders.
