'We could not be any happier', says Sidewalk Days organizer on event success

Last weekend, the Moose Jaw Sidewalk Days Festival took over Main Street for the first time in over two years.  

Businesses, food vendors, children's activities, and more lined the streets, as thousands of people visited the festival over the three days.  

Tourism Moose Jaw’s Executive Director, Jacki L'Hereaux Mason was at the helm of it all and says looking back, the festival was a success.  

“We could not be any happier with how everything went,” says L'Hereaux Mason. “The weather, well warm was a lot better than what we're expecting, once the sun came out and we could see we were going to have quite a bit of heat, we were a lot happier about that. The numbers we think we're at least as good as our best year before, prior was 2016.” 

She estimates that on Thursday around 10,000 people visited the event, with about 5,000 on Friday, and 10,000 people plus on Saturday.  

Many of the downtown businesses rely on Sidewalk Days to help them through the slower months of the year, and after two years of the event being dormant, L'Hereaux Mason says the reception was good.  

“For the most part, people were very, very happy with the foot traffic to their spots. I talked to several vendors that have been to many tradeshows before and felt that this was one of their best outings as far as sales and information provided. I think for the most part people were happy with the final results.” 

One of the hottest places to be during the event was the Moose Jaw Kinsmen Kid’s Village, which was filled with children throughout the festival.  

“As far as comments go that was the easiest one to see that people were impressed. Having the Moose Jaw Kinsmen support this year allowed us to get an extra two bouncy castles. The Moose Jaw Co-op Kids Chill Tent allowed us to have the face painting and magicians that we’ve not been able to have consistently.”   

Looking forward to next year, L'Hereaux Mason noted that they do have some ideas to improve on the festival, but couldn’t provide specific details.  

She concluded by saying that if anyone wants to help out with Sidewalk Days such as volunteering, becoming a committee member, or helping out in any way to reach out to them through their Facebook page.