MEDICINE HAT, AB — Medicine Hat’s 132nd Exhibition and Stampede is underway, with hundreds gathering the grounds on the first day of the event.
People come for the food, the vendors, the rodeo, and this year, some brand new rides.
One of the highlights of this years stampede, the Sky Screamer.
The ride seats 16, and consists of four arms swinging until the riders are nearly upside down.
“It was pretty great, I normally enjoy the rides as a kid but that’s probably been my favourite one,” says one Sky Screamer rider.
“That ones probably the best one here actually,” says another rider.“I loved it, it was awesome.”
The Sky screamer located right in the hear of the midway has only been in commission for two weeks.
The Medicine Hat Stampede is only the second event its visited.
“I actually just tried it out for the first time today as well and I’m still kind of recovering, it’s quite the adrenaline rush for sure,” says Darcy Benson co-owner of West Coast Amusements.
Also new to the midway this year, the Expo Wheel.
It’s a gondola style, where four people can sit together in one of the seats.
The Expo WheelA good experience for families who want to ride together.
“It’s nice to be able to go on as a family too, previously the Ferris Wheel is only two, so it rocks a lot and kind of builds up your courage, it’s slow and rocky,” says one Expo Wheel rider. “This one is really smooth very relaxing.”
The final new machine on the grounds is called the Hulk.
It’s comparable to a teacups ride, the rises up in the air.
The Hulk“I like how it moves up and down because it gives it more of like a scare I guess,” says a rider of the Hulk. “It’s just really fun.”
Rides aren’t the only thing that’s changed slightly this year, the layouts changed as well, giving attendees the opportunity to explore, and find new things within the grounds.
“It’s kind of nice because you’re almost rediscovering everything again you know, some years you know exactly where the layout is and it feels like we’ve been here and done this, so we’re kind of excited to see what they’ve done this year,” says a stampede attendee.
The stampede runs Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon to midnight.
