2018’s Manitoba Sunflower Festival took place this last weekend, July 27th-29th, in Altona. All three days were packed with family friendly fun and entertainment.

A kickoff lunch was held at the Altona Centennial Park sponsored by Sun Valley Co-op. Queen contestant speeches were held at the MEC in the afternoon. There were bouncy houses for the kids, food truck wars, Mennonite food, stage entertainment, and the crowning of Miss Congeniality and Miss People’s Choice.

Saturday started off with a free pancake breakfast at the Access Credit Union followed by a parade at 10am. The afternoon held more fun like the Gymkhana horse show, face painting, and the queen contestant fashion show. A. R. Cash, a Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash tribute band played on stage during the evening in between the crowning of 2018’s new sunflower royalty. A huge congratulations goes out to 2018’s Sunflower Queen, Aleksandra (Sasha) Ginters, first princess Hayley Bergman and second princess Ashley Ginter.

A worship service was held Sunday morning at the park. Legend’s Car Club held their 40th annual car show in the park all day. A quilt show was held all three days at the MEC, Gallery In The Park was open all weekend as well, showcasing art on loan from the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Altona Aquatic Center had free swimming for everyone all weekend long and many spent time cooling off in the water during the hot weekend. A free faspa with watermelon and rollkuchen was served in the park in the afternoon on Sunday.

Lakes and Pines, Annika Marie, The Janzen Boys, Nathan Nasby, and Jayme Giessbrecht and Jonathan Alexiuk all took to the stage Sunday afternoon and evening, bringing the crowd different styles of great music.