Frontier Days 2021 is kicking off this week and even though it looks different again this year, it is still a chance to celebrate our community and its western heritage, and it still offers a great mix of live and virtual events.

The live events this year include the WW Smith drive-thru burrito breakfast on Wednesday morning followed by the SaskTel Kiddies Day Parade at Riverside Park. On Thursday, the Living Sky Casino fireworks will light up the sky at 11:00pm, and this year's display will be set off bigger and higher to allow more people to view it from a distance. Kinetic Park will be closed to spectators on Thursday night, so those wanting to watch the fireworks can see them from a spot anywhere else in the city with a view of the southside skyline. The week wraps up on Saturday with the 4-H Steer Show and Sale and stock car races, both at Kinetic Park.

A lot of the virtual events from last year's Frontier Days will be returning this year, including the Spirit of the West Parade Tour. This year, eight local businesses have displays which can be viewed in a self-guided driving or walking tour from 9:00am to 9:00pm every day this week.

Another popular virtual event returning this year is Taste the Fair, where local restaurants are serving different fair food items. For example, Dairy King is offering fair-inspired treats like cotton candy milkshakes and waffle cone nachos, and Buffalo Brew Pub has corn dogs and ribbon fries to try out. When you buy these fair food items from participating restaurants, you can post photos on social media with the hashtag #newfrontier2021, and tag the Ag & Ex on Facebook and Instagram for a chance to win gift cards from these restaurants.

Also, this weekend, the draw for the Friends of the Fair 50/50 raffle will be happening, with a chance to win up to $50,000! You can get more details and buy your tickets on the Swift Current Ag & Ex website, and that's where you can learn more about the rest of this year's virtual events and everything else happening for Frontier Days.

We can look forward to a bigger and better Frontier Days in 2022, but there's already some more big events being planned by the Ag & Ex this summer, including the New Frontier Horse Show July 9-11, and the New Frontier CCA Rodeo July 23-25. More details about these events will be released in the coming weeks.