The sunshine finally appeared for the regions longest running arts festival, Vankleek Hill’s ‘The May Show’, now in its 42nd year, and the crowds followed.
…now, if you’re like me, when I think of art festivals in a village in Eastern Ontario, I often wonder “will I be safe?” “will I need to bring a personal security guard?” “how much would that cost?” “what if they don’t have a huge number of pretend police officers to protect us all from the outside mayhem that surrounds us all… the darkness cannot win, it must not be allowed to show itself!”. Well, don’t you worry, the May Show, for some reason, had seven Auxiliary OPP Officers [explanation here] to keep us all safe (there were at least five, I may have counted a couple twice… they do kind of all look alike).
I don’t know exactly why, but I do find that to be a little weird, and even kind of funny. I’ve been to a lot of May Shows, actually, I’ve been to a lot of Shows period, but I’ve never seen so many AuxOPP Officers in one place before… they’re basically regular people who have passed a security check, and are eligible to wear a police uniform minus the guns and handcuffs, mostly for traffic duty and special events, like meet & greets where they show up at a grocery store with a mascot to promote food banks. And it’s all volunteer.
This year’s May Show did go off without any Fenian Raids [explained here], and the rain held off, so maybe having all those fake police helped.
This was the first street festival of the season, and attendance was waaaaaaay up from last year, when it did rain and the Fenians ran wild. It was a great day for shorts, T-shirts, and summer dresses, taking the kids and dogs for a walk… and Vankleek Hill, which always looks great, looks especially nice during a sunny day.
…anyway, even the Mayor [his bio here] made it out as well, so just click on a photo to get the carousel started, and don’t forget to leave a comment… seriously, I’m an Official Artist [my art bio here] now so I have only your feedback to sustain me. Thanks.
Vankleek Hill Photos 
It’s been many decades since I’ve been to one, but I used to love art festivals. Never went home empty-handed. (And don’t recall ever seeing security of any kind.)
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The main focus of the May Show used to be ‘art’… back in the day, there were excellent, high-end and creative art exhibitions in many many many locations around our village, and it would bring in thousands of people from Ottawa and Montreal over two days. The last five years or so — pre- and post-pandemic, the art is now contained to maybe two locations, the rest is food trucks and crafts. It’s too bad, but the artists all got older and disillusioned with the process, and the newer crop of artists never really felt included. It’s really too bad, but there’s always hope for the future…
Thanks for the comment, Susan, it’s always great to see your avatar here.
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These are great live action shots & really give the “feel” of the day. The last question in my mind if I were planning to visit a festival in Vankleek Hill would be my personal safety!! Times have changed since my romping days there! Too many cops make me nervous especially the OPP!! Ha!
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Hi Nancy!! First, thanks so much for commenting! I think it was two years ago that the May Show had a couple of ‘security guards’ out patrolling the rough and tumble streets of Vankleek Hill. But, in the many many many years I’ve been going to the Festival, that was the only other time I’ve seen security of any kind at the Show. Maybe, if the OPP are involved in someway, they can bring back the Horse & Buggy Parade as well… the reason they had to cancel it, was no one was available to block traffic, so maybe, maybe, the OPP can be useful.
Thanks again for the comment, Nancy!
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Love your pics, Gabe, & it is always enjoyable to read you as well!!
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