Racing Zucchinis? Central Nanaimo organizes a community led event at Mansfield Park this Sunday
Fraser Mah (pictured left) is lead coordinator of Mansfield County Fair. (Luis Zablah / CHLY 101.7FM)
Mansfield Park will be bustling this weekend. The community park is playing host to a county fair, complete with music, magic shows, booths, zucchini races, kids activities and a raffle. The event is completely run by volunteers from the surrounding neighbourhood north of Townsite Rd in Nanaimo.
Fraser Mah, lead coordinator of the organizing committee of the Mansfield County Fair, spoke on the story behind the event.
“The fair itself is just meant to be kind of a neighborhood opportunity to come together and celebrate and connect.”
Mah explained they moved to the neighbourhood around two years ago and began speaking with residents about what community events were available in the area. They saw an opportunity for an event specifically centred around central Nanaimo, which led to them putting up posters looking for neighbours interested in helping. Enough people responded to form a team and begin putting the fair together.
Attendees can also tour the Beaufort Park Food Forest and participate in what the organizers hope will become one of the late summer event’s signature activities: zucchini racing.
Mansfield Park is located in central Nanaimo, north of Townsite Rd. (Luis Zablah / CHLY 101.7FM)
Participants will build small race cars out of zucchinis before sending them down a custom built track to compete gourd-to-gourd. Mah says similar races at other community fairs inspired the activity.
The fair is set to create opportunities for neighbours and Nanaimo residents to meet each other. Mah explained how the fair will help the community connect.
“I think the in-person part is really an important part of it. We've got a few things planned to try and help facilitate that connection. We're going to be giving out name tags and asking little intro questions, so hopefully folks can meet somebody new in the neighborhood.”
Although many activities are tailored for children and families, Mah said organizers set out with a vision for the fair to appeal across generations.
“Being able to connect with folks who are from all different ages, all different backgrounds and experiences, I think there's a lot of value in that.”
Like many community events, the new fair relies heavily on the volunteers each with their own skills, interests and time to commit. Mah says the group also secured funding back in spring from the City of Nanaimo, the Nanaimo Foundation and Coastal Community Credit Union. Additional help was provided by Country Grocer, Davey Tree and Siya Herman and Associates realtors, which allowed the event to get off the ground.
With this being the group’s first year running the event, Mah stated a successful first year will boil down to whether the event gives an opportunity for neighbours to connect with each other.
“Just making sure that there's a lot of intention to people being able to actually find those meaningful connections and have a great time.”
The Mansfield County Fair takes place this Sunday September 13 at Mansfield Park from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Further information is available on the County Fair’s events webpage on Facebook.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.
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