Easter Beef event back on after 2020 cancellation due to COVID-19

The Easter Beef Show and Sale is back on at Charlottetown's Eastlink Centre this year, after the 2020 event was cancelled due to COVID-19. 

With circuit breaker measures in place, there's a maximum of 50 people allowed in the building, and only exhibitors and buyers are allowed to attend in person.

Organizers say they're happy to be able to run it at all, after the disappointment of having to cancel last year, and the uncertainty around how the event would move forward in 2021. 

"It's a privilege to be able to have a show and sale this year," said James Worth, president of the Easter Beef Show Association. "As of last week, when we were in the red zone, we didn't know if we'd be able to have anything again, like last year.

"So this year, this week is a privilege. Even being the circuit breaker, to have 50 people is better than having no people." 

The event would normally involve several hundred spectators — and since that's not an option, organizers brought in a crew to livestream the "show" part of the event instead. 

Event turns 70 years old

Worth says it was important to find ways to keep the tradition going, and maintain that longstanding connection with people in the Island's cattle farm community.  

"It's the 70th year this year," said Worth. "We made it this far. We made it through snowstorms and everything else. So we had to try something to get it to go ahead. And everybody seemed keen and the buyers were very interested in coming, so we had to make it work somehow." 

We made it this far. We made it through snowstorms and everything else. So we had to try something to get it to go ahead.- James Worth

The "sale" portion of Easter Beef also required a lot of additional effort and organizing.

With only 50 people allowed in the main area with the cattle, an additional cohort of 50 buyers will be set up in nearby Red Shores Casino, to watch the livestream and place their auction bids from there. 

"It's actually the way the world's going now; everything's online," said Ryan Boswall, president of the North River 4-H Club and a board member with the Easter Beef Show Association. 

"So it's, you know, kind of a nice way to give us that opportunity to try that out and see how it works — and now maybe that's something that we'll continue with." 

This year, buyers aren't permitted to have their photo taken as they stand next to any steer they might buy. Instead, the animal's image will be put up on a screen at Red Shores — so the buyer can pose in front of the screen for a picture.

Also new this year: Judging is being done by locals. Normally, judges would be brought in from off-Island, but this year, that wasn't possible due to travel restrictions and the closure of the Atlantic bubble.

Another difference in 2021: Without spectators, and with organizers wary of handling small change due to the pandemic, the 50/50 sale that acts as a fundraiser for Easter Seals isn't possible. 

Instead, a donation will be made on behalf of the Easter Beef Show Association.

Organizers are hoping that 2022 will see the Easter Beef Show and Sale return to the way it's worked for decades. But in the meantime, they're grateful to be able to run it at all in 2021. 

"There's definitely a lot of excitement at being here this year, being able to get it done," said Boswell. "And it's great to see people here that you don't get to see all year, especially with the pandemic."

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