Fairgoers will be able to experience one of Regina’s largest events this summer spread out over two weekends in August.

Regina Exhibition Association Limited has confirmed dates for the Queen City Ex’s return in 2021 happening August 20 to 22 and August 25 to 29. Tickets will be available for purchase June 21 online.

REAL CEO Tim Reid says these longer dates will allow people to get more out of the fair.

“Obviously, this gets us back to some of our traditional times where we used to see 8 or 10-day fairs,” said Reid. “It’s gives us an opportunity to shut the fair down in the middle to provide the cleaning that’s necessary, but it also allows us that opportunity to advance with everything that we know and love about the Queen City Exhibition.”

Reid says they are planning concerts for every night of the fair, and people can expect to see the games, rides, and food they’ve come to associate with the QCX.

He adds due to the cancellation of K-Days in Edmonton and the CNE in Toronto, the QCX will actually be bigger than ever.

“The fair will be bigger than it’s been in the past, with the inability to head to Toronto, we’ll actually have a bigger fair,” said Reid. “There’ll be more rides, more games than we’ve seen in the past, so it’ll be very much the experience that we’ve seen.”

Reid says it’s exhilarating to be able to announce the dates for the QCX instead of just optimistically planning.

“I think it’ll give us an opportunity to get back to what we love, and just the ability to say we’re not planning anymore, we’re actually getting ready to do is pretty special,” said Reid. “When you talk about getting 750 people back to work, you really get a sense of the impact.”

REAL says it is following all public health guidelines through the planning process.