Thousands attend Fireworks Competition
August 11, 2025, 8:41 am
Ashley Bochek
Moosomin Regional Park welcomed thousands of people from all over Saskatchewan and Manitoba this August Long weekend.
Kyle Jeannot, Moosomin Regional Park’s Chair of Entertainment, says the weekend was a great turnout for the park. “The weekend went really well. We figure we had about 3,000 people Saturday night, and around 2,800 on Sunday night so a little bit of a lighter crowd.
“The beer gardens did really well. It was full both nights with both bands and the fireworks show obviously was great each night.
“There were lots of kid activities, Flatland Plumbing and Heating had a dunk tank there. I believe they donated $1,000 to Playfair Daycare. The food trucks seemed happy and all of the vendors said they had a great turnout so it was really good this year.”
Positive feedback
Jeannot says he has heard lots of positive comments from this year’s fi reworks competition.
“People really enjoyed it, and they said everything ran smoothly. We didn’t have too many hiccups or any issues—there were a few places where we were short on volunteers for parking, but everybody was pretty happy with how the parking was situated, so it was a positive thing.
” The park committee is happy with this year’s turnout. “I think if you look back you almost have to look back as if we’re starting it all over again. We can’t really compare it to the last time prior to Covid when we had that last show, Canada versus China, and had 7,000 people one day. We have to think back to like 10 years ago, and just talking with some of the older board members or the committee members that had helped with years prior, they thought it was equivalent, if not better.”
Back next year
Jeannot says the committee plans to renew the August Long Fireworks Competition as an annual event again.
“We are definitely planning on doing it next year. We are maybe going to try to keep it a Canadian thing for now, maybe see if we can get someone further out west, or there was a discussion maybe an east coast thing and then try and have an east coast theme, getting some food trucks with seafood and that theme so that is in the back of our mind.
“Obviously it’s only a week past. We are looking at maybe doing more local talent the first night of the beer gardens instead of bringing in two bands next year. We do have a lot of local talent in the area and so we think let’s give them some exposure.”
Alberta Fireworks Champions
Jeannot says the fireworks were judged by locals this year, who gave the win to Alberta.
“We actually had super expert judges. So we had two judges and then three girls judging that are quite heavily involved in dance and it worked out well because there were things that I didn’t notice that they were telling me about. For instance, the first night only had four songs to it where the second night had five songs in the same amount of time, the fi reworks were more on beat and timed better the second night. They had a whole list of reasons. They did a really good job at it.
“So for next year we are going to try and get the Alberta team back to try and defend their title.” Jeannot says the market drew in a big crowd at the park this year. “The market helped pull a lot of people in this year. I also think just in general people being able to come back and enjoy the entertainment, and just being able to get together with family—there were a lot of family reunions and gatherings out there this weekend, which was great to see. Then you’re getting all of the younger people coming out to enjoy the show too and people just bring their family for the day to enjoy the park.”
Jeannot adds visitors traveling from all over southeast Saskatchewan and Southwest Manitoba for the event. “We had travellers from Regina, Brandon, a lot of Manitoba people, some from Estevan and Weyburn area. There were some people travelling through town just by chance, a couple from Louisiana, and two guys from Australia—they just happened to be passing through. The two guys from Australia came through a week before and found out about the show and stayed and they were just traveling across Canada, so that technically was our furthest, but the farthest travel just for the show was Regina and Brandon. Which I think is a big draw for people to come for the weekend. The hotels were busy too, we were talking to Canalta and they said they were booked up solid with people coming out on the long weekend.”
Thankful for volunteers
eannot says many community groups helped volunteer during the long weekend.
“We had hired the Filipino group to help with parking so they helped us with that, and we are going to make a donation to the Terry Lynd Basketball Court to thank them. We actually had a cabin owner and seasonal site owner meeting two weeks before the event and passed around a piece of paper with what people could do to help, and by the end of that we had it pretty much full. “Moosomin Age Friendly stepped up and helped sell 50/50s. The volunteers turned out really well. There were a few places we could have had a few more hands, but overall we were covered. The volunteers were a huge help.”
He says the winner of their 50/50 from the weekend has decided to donate some of their winnings back. “We ended up grossing $16,200 so we gave away $8,100. Lori Shepherd from Moosomin won it, and she’s making a donation back. We are trying to put all of that 50/50 money toward the playground for the camping area up top for the kids, because they don’t really have a play structure up there so that’s our goal to get that rolling and when she heard that she had won she was pretty excited, and we are so excited she has decided she is going to make a donation back.”
Great fundraiser for lake
Jeannot says the August Long Fireworks Competition is a great fundraiser to maintain and update Moosomin Regional Park. “We definitely broke even. So far, all that I know is that we made money on the 50/50 as of right now, we have a meeting in the next few weeks just to see how the park did. It’s a fundraiser to improve the area, and put money back into the park so everything that gets raised from this event turns around and goes back into the park. It’s not our goal to go and raise a bunch of money either though, our goal is to provide entertainment for the public and to have people come out, camp, enjoy the show, enjoy some live music, and have a good weekend.”
He adds, “We can actually relax now and not be worried about how it’s going to turn out. You know in the back of your mind you’re always like ‘Okay, we sold this many wrist bands,’ and always watching the weather, and the lake has had good weather each year on August Long. They’ve never had a bad weekend. This year on Sunday was a little gloomy but it wasn’t horrible. It’s better than 40 degrees in the sun. I’m glad it has passed and it will be good to see how the fundraising turned out.”
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