The Pacific National Exhibition won't be welcoming thousands to the Fair this year thanks to ongoing restrictions in the province due to COVID-19. But the end-of-summer tradition is finding innovative ways to re-invent its programming for the PNE's 110th season.
The first in a new series of "drive-through" events has just been announced, and it's aimed squarely at our tastebuds, with a dusting of nostalgia.
A Taste of the PNE - Mini Donut Edition will give Fair fans a chance to get their hands on concession staple, with special distancing and safety protocols in place.
Taking place May 22 through 24, ticket-holders will get to "drive-through" the PNE's "Revel District" and collect mini donuts to-go from four popular vendors: Those Little Donuts, Tin Lizzy Donuts, CinCity Donuts and the PNE Fundunkers.
Mini Donuts are a longstanding tradition at the PNE. In 2018, Those Little Donuts marked 50 years of frying up those sugar-sprinkled tiny treats at the Fair.
The PNE says they developed the event with Vancouver Coastal Health. The event is meant to demonstrate the PNE's "Fair spirit" and to give Vancouverites the chance to show some love for the hard-hit event and their concessionaires, who are all feeling the financial blow of the Fair's cancellation.
“We intend to offer a number of different experiences in this series,” says PNE President and CEO Shelley Frost. “Many of the small businesses that make up our concessionaire and exhibitor core are in dire financial circumstances after losing their entire year as a result of COVID. This is a small way we can help. We’re beginning with what is perhaps the most well-known of all our Fair foods, the mini donut, and we are hoping that people who have reached out to express their support to the PNE will look at this as a way to also support the small businesses who are the heart and soul of this Fair, many of them going back generations with us.”
As a delicious bonus, advanced purchase tickets to the event include passes to the 2021 Fair at the PNE, too.
A Taste of the PNE – The Mini Donut Edition
When: May 22-24, 2020 from 1-7 p.m.
Where: PNE grounds - Enter off Hastings Street, West of Playland
Cost: $20 for 24 donuts, $35 for 48 donuts. Purchase in advance online.
