Old-fashioned festival growing new family fun with Manic Drive, others

A farm just outside of Portage la Prairie is showing people what it means to be good neighbours for the fifth year in a row.

Five years ago, Our Farm Greenhouses began hosting an appreciation event for its community and today, Family Day has massively grown.

"This is my way of bringing back like the old fair days. I see old family events as something to do to get (children) off of those devices," Bhryden Doherty owner of Concerts On Request, the company putting together Saturday's event says. "My goal is to begin to bring families back together. There are so many things that are pulling families apart, why not have one festival, one safe event, everybody can go to that they can feel safe attending?"

In true family fashion, he is organizing the event on behalf of his mother, who owns Our Farm Greenhouses.

Jake Fretz, Elias Dummer, and Manic Drive are part of the free concert. Doherty says he was raised in a Christian home and has an appreciation for Christian music, which is why Christian artists are chosen.

"My faith values are there. So it's my way of giving to the Christian community something to do. Second of all, I would say, I've had such good working experiences with them that I want to keep it that way."

The word "safe" is a common theme of this event. Doherty wants everyone to know that Fun with Family Day is a safe place for families to relax and enjoy themselves.

"The biggest thing I am looking at is to give them hope to continue to live to realize there are ways to continue to do things safely again."

Last year's event saw attendance as high as 1,500. Doherty is unsure of how many people will be in attendance this year but says there may be a wait at the gate and is asking for patience.

"We have a set capacity limit on the grounds. With that, we are not requiring full immunization to enter our grounds."

Masks are required in indoor spaces and are strongly recommended for outdoor spaces. Doherty is asking people to be respectful of others and practice physical distancing. Most importantly, he says, is to not attend if feeling sick.

A new event this year is a car show, which means there could be a slow down when driving to Our Farm Greenhouses. Between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., and four to five p.m., one-way traffic will be occurring on Road 31 West. To avoid it, Doherty says to go down Grabber Green Road.