Press Releases - Archived - Prairie Gardens

Archived Release September 25, 2009  -  Haunted Pumpkin Festival Opens 2009

Prairie Gardens’ 14th Annual Haunted Pumpkin Festival For Immediate Release Sept 25, 2009   Contact Information Tam Andersen Director of Fun Prairie Gardens’ Great Prairie Corn Maze 780-921-2272   Organizers of the Haunted Pumpkin Festival in Alberta’s north are expecting visitors from all over the world.  Bon Accord, AB. An autumn outing to the pumpkin patch near ‘Boo’n Accord and the charming world-famous Haunted Pumpkin Festival at Prairie Gardens is an annual tradition for families of the Edmonton region and beyond. Featured on Australia TV, and China’s largest daily newspaper, this enormously popular festival celebrates jack-o-lanterns and Halloween – Alberta style. This autumn promises a season of huge family fun, and nowhere are the good times more evident than at all the events taking place at this magical family farm.  New this year: interactive Kompany Family Theatre, Folk Songs, and a Scarecrow Contest, which will bring out the best in fall creativity and Halloween creepiness. There's a skeleton band, pumpkins galore, pumpkin painting, giant pumpkin puppets and pumpkin pie; even a pumpkin cannon, which provides families with likely their one and only chance to launch a pumpkin into a pirate ship (really!), and for a good cause. Proceeds go to the Youth Emergency Shelter.    Those looking for more Halloween-style adventures can scream through the haunted farm house, or journey through the twisty trail winding through the Canada’s largest castle – Cornelot a 7-acre corn field maze. There's also a be-Witching puppet show. In short, this might be the most unusual festival you'll experience this year! Haunted Pumpkin Festival Every weekend in October including Thanksgiving Monday For more information go to: www.prairiegardens.org   Festival Activity Schedule 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Interactive Fun All Day! Wagon Rides, Haunted House, Great Prairie Corn Maze, Petting Farm, Scarecrow Building, Face Painting Kids Pumpkin Activities, Crafts, Trick or Treat Cabin, Strolling Characters, Bale Maze, Enchanted Forest, Graveyard Trail Puppet Theatre - 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. (1.5 hour intervals) Pumpkin Cannon 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 a.m. Keith Remple Band 1:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Kompany Family Theatre Interactive Plays 12:30 pm & 3:30 pm daily. Mind-Magic with Louis Pezzani Select dates. Thank you to our Partners and Sponsors: Travel Alberta     Global TV      CFCW Radio     Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines    Edmonton Youth Emergency Shelter Society                               -30-

Archived Release - July 21.2009  Cornelot- Alberta's largest castle opens August 1, 2009

Great Prairie Corn Maze & Fairy Berry Festival   For Immediate Release   -Seven-acre maze designed to be seen from foot, car, air and perhaps space, celebrates Alberta with a fairytale launch! (Bon Accord, AB, July 21, 2009). The world's only ‘Cornelot’ castle corn maze is to be debuted in Sturgeon County, August 1, 2 and 3 at Prairie Garden’s Fairy Berry Festival, beckoning Edmontonians, travelers and perhaps extraterrestrials to live adventurously in Alberta this summer.   The Alberta ‘Cornelot’ design takes the corn maze craze to the next level, weaving in and out of seven acres of green corn stalks, navigating through the maze for an authentic summer travel experience found only in Alberta with secret passages, hideaways and over four km of maze-ways to conquer! Alberta ambassador, Tam Andersen of the family-owned Prairie Gardens and Greenhouses, in Bon Accord commissioned the giant maze as a tribute to Alberta’s iconic 2009 branding message: ‘Freedom to Create; Spirit to Achieve.”  The Andersen family began planting the seed, literally, for the corn maze in May.  Add 50,000 seeds per acre, water from the heavens, Alberta sunshine and a good bit of artistry to achieve seven acres of pathways that lead to the “freedom to create” passions of Alberta.  The maze at Prairie Gardens will be open to the public every day through August and September, with moonlight maze adventures until 10 pm on Saturday nights.  Family Admission is $7.50 per person with children two and under free of charge.  General admission is $8. Families love the farm’s play areas, hayride tours, mini mazes, scarecrow art and meeting one of the cute petting farm bunnies up close for a cuddle – kid’s favourite! New to the Fairy Berry Festival this year are children’s theatre presentations: ‘Fairly Scary Fairy Tale’ Live Theatre at 2 pm each day, a spiral bale maze, and logic mini mazes. More festival fun includes live music, a robotic skeleton band, ‘gem’ mining, duck races, and tickling your taste buds with fairy strawberries. Prairie Gardens is offers family-friendly festivals including the Corn Fest, and the Haunted Pumpkin Festival at their pumpkin patch for the perfect fall experiences through to October. More information is available at: www.PrairieGardens.org Prairie Gardens is an agri-tourism attraction located 25 km North of Edmonton on HWY 28 (97St). It has been recognized with numerous awards including the prestigious Growing Alberta Leadership Award for Community Spirit. Over 50,000 visitors are expected to visit the farm this season; 8000 of which are schoolchildren learning about rural life and pumpkin farming in Alberta. Owner, Tam Andersen has been recognized as an official Alberta Ambassador, sharing her story to inspire others about life in Alberta. Alberta. ‘Freedom to Create. Spirit to Achieve’  is the official brand for the province of Alberta.  Launched in 2009, the brand helps to tell the whole story of Alberta as a place for people realizing possibilities. Learn more from the people who live here and dream here—and from those who come to visit—about what makes Alberta such a great place to be. For more information: AlbertaBrand.com Prairie Gardens and Greenhouses would like to thank our partners and sponsors for generous their support. Enter to win an Amaizing Grand Prize – a chance to win one of three great getaways into Edmonton’s Countryside.

Archived Release – July 28, 2008   Dragons Have Landed in an Edmonton Countryside Corn Maze!   Sturgeon County, AB, July 28, 2008 – DRAGONS are the stuff of myth and folklore. Except, that is, in the Edmonton countryside, where one has recently been spotted by helicopters just north of the city. A huge, green, winged dragon, over 5000 meters long! With special emphasis on roaring good family fun,  the Great Prairie Corn Maze, Edmonton’s favorite cornfield attraction near Bon Accord, is set for a third season premiere – DRAGONS! on August 1st, 2008.   Sturgeon County’s Mayor, Don Rigney, will officially cut the ribbon to this adventure on Wednesday, July 30th at 9:30am at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Prairie Gardens, 56311, Lily Lake Road, just north of Bon Accord. Mayor Rigney comments, “This is a great way to celebrate agriculture and rural tourism in Sturgeon County! It’s huge real family fun!”   On August 1st, Flashlight Maze Adventures will start the season with a special challenge - Maze by Dark - until 10 pm. Designed by Precision Mazes of Kansas City, Missouri, with special ‘E-Z’ out exits, this season’s Dragon maze adds a whole new dimension to getting lost. And found! Watch for roving giants- Dragons, princesses, and knights, in partnership with the Royal Alberta Museum Dragon Exhibition, Discover Fest, and Prairie Garden’s Giant Puppets.   The Fairy~Berry Festival, this August long weekend (Aug. 2, 3, 4), from 10am to 6pm daily, launches the maze. A celebration of children’s imagination, fairy tales, sweet morsels of Fairy-strawberries, and the long lost cornfield maze kingdom of Drake the Dragon. The all new original Cornstalk Puppet Theatre ‘The Dragon Who Got Lost’, a lively musical with Drake, Sir LunchaLot, and Princess Pumpkin, will entertain all ages. Tam Andersen, Director of Fun, explains “The response has been truly A-maizing! Dragons are hot this year!” This is a full day of fun farm activities, including ‘gem’ mining, Dragon’s Den, baby bunnies, bale mazes, wagon rides, campfires, and the AirMaizing Fun contest, with a chance to win over $1000 in prizes from Fantasyland Hotel, West Edmonton Mall, Prairie Gardens and E-Z Air Helicopter Services.   Prairie Gardens is committed to providing the fun learning environment for children across the region. Providing safe, age-appropriate, and fun family activities, Prairie Gardens has earned the endorsement of parents, children, industry leaders and teachers, and hosts over 6000 children to the farm every season. Prairie Gardens is a GALA (Growing Alberta Leadership-Community Spirit) award winning farm and Edmonton Countryside Agri-Tourism Attraction, owned and operated by the Andersen Family in Bon Accord, AB. Corn Maze Admission is $30/Family (4) or $8/Individual. Free for Tots 2 & under. More Information: www.PrairieGardens.org                                     -30- Direct media enquiries to: James Murgatroyd, Play It By Ear Productions -780-887-3033 cell Tam Andersen, Director of Fun, Prairie Gardens - 780.921.2272