‘Organized chaos,' builders say of moving exhibition from Stampede to KDays

17-07-2025

The last pieces of the KDays Midway are being put in place Thursday.
The exhibition grounds were a bustling place in the morning, with workers in cranes, forklifts, semis, and even on top of a stationary ferris wheel.
'A lot of it is organized chaos,' acknowledged Bennett Kavals, the person in charge of personnel for North American Midway Entertainment. 'But a lot of planning goes into the logistics.'
After the Calgary Stampede closed on Sunday, about 500 crew members tore the amusement park down and packed for the road trip north on Monday and Tuesday. About 300 semis are needed to transport the rides from city to city.
'We bring the equipment in the strategic order. The placement is very important.… It's kind of like a symphony, an orchestra,' Kavals said.
KDays midway exhibition set up 2025
A crane operator helps build a roller coaster for the KDays exhibition on July 17, 2025. (Connor Hogg / CTV News Edmonton)
Many staff work for the company year round and travel for the exhibition season year after year.
Each is assigned to a specific ride.
'We move 19 locations in a year, so we're pretty good at this. And we've been doing it for 21 years,' noted Scooter Korek, vice-president of client services.
'We start in Miami in March of every year and they become very proficient at their ride and how to set it up, how to do the inspections, how to make sure that it's safe, how to be able to ride people. So by the time we get here to KDays, we're very proficient in our tasks.'
According to him, two of the most difficult rides to set up are the 'Crazy Mouse' and 'Outlaw' roller coasters.
But construction and inspections will be finished by Friday's 11 a.m. opening, the organizers promised.
Korek said, 'It hits home when the gates are open. All that work pays off and all of our guys look forward to (it). Let's get this party started.'
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg

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Osheaga nearly sold out as trade tensions linger

CTV News

2 hours ago

CTV News

Osheaga nearly sold out as trade tensions linger

The biggest bands are in town this weekend for The Osheaga Music & Arts Festival, but some are wondering if the trade war with the U.S. is impacting the event. The Killers, Olivia Rodrigo and Tyler, The Creator. The biggest bands are in town this weekend for The Osheaga Music & Arts Festival, but some are wondering if the trade war with the U.S. is impacting the event. Osheaga brings in 150-thousand music fans from all over the world for three days, plus an army of staff working the event. The forecast for the 18th edition is sunny, but the political climate has thrown some shade. Professor Julian Karaguesian from McGill University's economics department said, 'The uncertainty about tariffs and the uncertainty about the border have a larger impact than the tariffs themselves. They do. And uncertainty generally, when it passes a certain threshold, is really toxic for investment. It's toxic for business.' Nick Farkas, Evenko's senior vice president for booking and concerts, is also the man who founded Osheaga. He said uncertainty stunts business expectations. 'How it impacts the Canadian dollar and how it impacts, whether people can get comfortable going back and forth over the border.' Karaguesian said trade and tariff talks also affect tourism. 'Year over year, June 24 to June 25, the latest data shows that visits by Americans by car show over the land borders down by 11 per cent and by air, I think it was down by almost 1 per cent.' Yet, Farkas says this weekend is almost sold out. 'Our American sales are pretty much on par with last year, versus Quebec, Ontario, America and the outside international sales. So far, it's looking pretty similar to last year and the year before. So we're encouraged to see that the Americans are still coming.' Americans are still coming, except for some sponsors, says Osheaga site and operations director Eric Fortin-Lambert. 'Because of what happened with the USA, some sponsorships were not able to be here.' He added that Canadian sponsors stepped into those opportunities. The economic ups and downs of putting on the biggest festival of its kind in Canada are matched only by the high notes onstage. Montreal Artist Emi Jeen has the dream come true experience of playing her favourite music festival and said to expect a rollercoaster ride. 'I start very like high energy and I go a little bit down and then up. There's tons of things. We clap hands, we go down together, we jump. Yeah, we it's a it's a nice ride.' Osheaga will take place on Aug. 1, 2, and 3.