Pacific National Convention. PNE.
It’s a big fair, a cross between Great America, Taste of Chicago and state fairs. There’s a Marketplace where vendors sell their wares, kind of like booth after booth of live infomercials in roughly the space of a football field. An American football field. Food vendors are almost everywhere, as are people.
There are rides, games, exhibits, shows and live music. We caught the evolution of motor cross show, which was cool. It went through motorbike, stunt racing, ATVs and snowmobiles. A relative of Evil Kineval, his godson if memory serves, showed off some cool stunts. He’s the one in red:
And I snapped a cool shot of a snowmobile in mid-flip:
Not bad, eh?
Further down there’s another line of food vendors and the games. Typical fair games, like tossing a ring on a bottle, Wac-A-Mole and such. The ladder challenge was especially popular. There were a number of betting stations, too, from numbers to a color wheel to Zodiac signs. Struck me as odd but then again this is Canada. When the sign says “Must be 19 years or Older to Play,” people actually follow the rule.
And then there were the ribs.
Pretty the best reason to go to the PNE. There’s one section of the park devoted to ribs. Huge signs are erected to showcase and promote the different vendors, announcing awards for best sauce, dry rub, etc. One even had a ledge devoted to trophies. And boy were the ribs good! Florida Gator was the favorite of the group. Meat just fell off the bone and the pulled pork was perfect. Right amount of moisture and flavor, it just melted in your mouth.
And then there was this curious stand right behind the picnic table we snagged.
Deep friend Kool-Aid.
Deep fried Snickers bars, Oreos, Twinkies, OK. Snickers and Mars bars are especially common. But deep fried Kool-Aid? It’s liquid!
Turns out they use a powder. A sign that looked hastily written described what they do, generally, which made us all the more curious. So we got some.
Verdict? Cherry flavored dough. Fried cherry flavored dough. Not the best combination it turns out.
I did come away with a cool poster/painting of a drummer for $2, and Magic Mesh which is supposed to be a screen for doors that requires no assembly. That part is true but it’s width is too short for my patio.
Keep bugs out, let air in. Yeah. Magic Mesh is not so magic. Something is better than nothing though. Screens are hard to come by in Vancouver. They don’t quite have the bug problem of home, but there are still mosquitoes that are just as hungry.
All in all, another +1 Vancouver experience.