Our History
A Brief History of The Airdrie and District Agricultural Society
The Airdrie & District Agricultural Society was incorporated over a century ago in 1909. We are 1 of 293 Ag Societies in the Province of Alberta. We receive a small base grant from the Province of Alberta as long as we are members in good standing and engage in at least three Ag related activities each year - which we do with great pride! We have supported the development of facilities and programs in the Airdrie area for over 30 years. This included obtaining funding and supporting construction of the Plainsmen and Twin Arenas (Recently renamed the Ron Ebbesen Arena) in Airdrie. We also successfully operated all three of these arenas for fourteen years before turning them over to the City of Airdrie in 2006. What is now the very successful Airdrie Home & Garden Fair started out as the Annual Seed and Machinery Show. We acquired land for the Chinook Winds Ball Diamonds in 1998 and donated half of that land to the City of Airdrie. We successfully operated a City Slicker Harvest program from there for many years, allowing urban youth to experience what agriculture has to offer. The colorful building you may remember was donated to the Airdrie Food Bank in 2006.
We provide funding & resources for local 4-H clubs, with a particular emphasis on leadership activities. We also support the Jr. Rodeo and amateur Ranch Hand competition at Airdrie Pro Rodeo, Meals on Wheels, the annual Farm Women Decision with Vision Conference, Steer & heifer shows, and provide scholarships for post-secondary students. We are thrilled to be making 3 scholarship awards this year.
The Airdrie and District Ag Society also fully funded the Annual Horticulture & Bench Show – known as the Airdrie & District Fall Fair, which is held the 3rd weekend in August each year.