Another popular Manitoba summer festival is set to make a near-normal return this year after the pandemic forced its cancellation for the past two years.

The Morden Corn & Apple Festival, famous for free buttered corn and local apple cider, three stages of entertainment, a midway and bus tours, is credited for bringing in 80,000 visitors to the area over the course of the weekend.

“It’s been an interesting last two years,” explains Festival executive director Tim Hodge. “We’ve been able to use the time to plan for the future in a way that we never could accomplish with the normal annual schedule of the Corn & Apple Festival. We are coming out of the pandemic in a strong position and couldn’t be more excited to be planning a fairly normal Festival.”

The weekend requires 33 committees, utilizing 1,300 volunteers to make it a huge success.

Hodge noted, most chairpersons have returned to their positions, and the committees look forward to a fairly normal weekend, with one exception.

"The only area of the festival that we won’t be able to include this summer is our parade," noted Hodge. "We believe our parade is one of the longest in Manitoba, but due to volunteer and time constraints we’ll be waiting a year to bring the parade back"

The festival is set to run from Aug. 26-28. Anyone wanting to volunteer for the corn and apple festival is encouraged to reach out and get involved. Click here for more information.