Delicious treats and eats return for Whoop-Up Days this summer!
The annual festival in Lethbridge is August 19 to 23, with the bonus Whoop-Up Wrap-Up added to the schedule for an extra day of fun.
One of the highlights of the fair is the assortment of food items, including one staple that is being rebranded for 2025.
Jumbo Bites are a re-imagined, smaller bite –sized version of the popular Jumbo Ears.
“Over time, as that program has evolved, it required specialized equipment that with time is just aging out and is becoming less safe, and the quality of the product frankly, was not as consistently good as it has been in previous years,” says Paul Kingsmith, Lethbridge and District Exhibition’s director of event development.
“So, teaming up with LA Chefs, we took a whole new approach and using a more sustainable process that ensures a higher quality with every single Jumbo Bite that is served, we came up with a new product that is Jumbo Bites.”
Kingsmith adds the famous taste will not be changed and “will take you right back to Jumbo Ears”, but the bite-sized treat is more easily shareable and easier to carry around. Fairgoers will be able to dip their Jumbo Bites into three different sauces, including strawberry, chocolate and caramel.
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Despite the change in the product itself, one aspect that will remain is a program giving back to a local group. Once again, proceeds from the sales of Jumbo Bites will go toward the Lethbridge Longhorns baseball program, with local athletes being the one’s to operate the booth and prepare the treats.
“Everything that we do, not just at Whoop-Up Days, but as an organization, we try to look at ways that we can make an impact on our community. Teaming with the Lethbridge Longhorns, they have just been a great partner,” Kingsmith says.
“Over the past couple of years, the energy and the effort that they put in to making this a success is incredible and they are so good to deal with and we’re just happy to support a program like that.”
He adds that the Jumbo Bites booth will still be located on the midway grounds.
6th STREET SWEETS
The Jumbo Bites will be part of the snack group that makes up what will be known as 6th Street Sweets. Attendees will be able to enjoy local street corn in classic butter, Mexican or Korean flavours, and caramel popcorn from The Movie Mill.
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Additionally, 6th Street Sweets will feature a dirty soda shop, with scoop ice cream and floats from Crystal Springs Dairy Company.
Coca-Cola will also provide a cool summer treat.
“When we survey people after Whoop-Up Days every year, food is always one of the top three reasons that people come to a fair,” Kingsmith says.
“Food is such a uniting factor in any facet of life and I think that here, where we’re in an agriculture centre, it has even more of that.”
Whoop-Up Days will feature upwards of 20 food trucks as well.
To celebrate the history of Lethbridge, the historic Streetcar Number 8, the last remaining streetcar from the Lethbridge Municipal Railway Streetcars system that served the city from 1912 to 1947, will be on display on the midway grounds.
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