I went to the PNE last week, the first time in more than 15 years. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty underwhelming.
For this post, I thought I’d draw from comments left on my August 17 blog and on my Facebook page Every Place has a Story. The general consensus from fairgoers seems to be that the PNE is an expensive shadow of its former self.
All photos were taken from the mid to late 1970s by Bruce Stewart.
For more stories like this one, check out Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
Terry: “They’ve taken the “Exhibition” out of the Pacific National. It’s just food vendors, Playland rides and games, the Superdogs, the concerts at night and only a few animals and farm displays. It is just about selling you something!” (ed. note: the SuperDogs never gets old. Loved taking the kids to them in the ‘90s, love them now).
There was an issue over Dodgem versus Bumper car.
Dan: “Carny life. I worked night shift for a summer at Playland as a sweeper—sweeping cigarette butts in the rain. They would roll and disintegrate. It took us about two hours to do all areas of the site and then we hung out in our tent and gambled with cards until about 5 am when the Rotary Pie truck would arrive with a delivery of cheap pies. Yeah, that was the life.”
Nancy: “What about the mini-donuts?” (ed. note: I paid $9 for 12, but I think you could have got this down if you shopped around. Yeah, it was worth it.)
Christine: What’s missing? The building with the huge map of BC; the gardening/horticulture building with flower/plant displays/awards; the Food building with foods of the world; the PNE house to view/buy tickets; the needlework/sewing arts building; and the ant colony/bee hive displays. The midway was smaller. The shows were free. It was a place where families could have a great time, spend little, learn lots. Nighttime was magical.”
Troy: “It sucked when they got rid of the demolition derby, loggers show, the sky ride and all the buildings where the green space is now.”
Gord: “It’s changed a lot. Now it seems like just another second-rate amusement park. It’s expensive and not very exciting. Many of the attractions that we used to see are gone and replaced with a lot of booths selling the same junk.”
Donna: “The demolition derby was iconic! I remember going to cheer on my dad’s friend Charlie and he got hit, stalled and stuck almost immediately.”
Andre: “No BC Building with the giant BC map. No PNE Prize Home on site for visitors to see and buy tickets. No real melted butter poured onto popcorn which was the BEST-ever.”
Jim: “The PNE house on site was always a must see. Now if you want to see it, you have to head out to Langley.”
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11 comments on “The PNE: Then and Now”
As I may have mentioned in the previous nostalgic PNE post, I haven’t been in decades. There are fond memories: food that brought pleasure even as it shortened my life, dog acts that I was particularly fond of, line-ups pretty much for everything, and the bump cars…loved that Freeway training ground…
Thanks for your honesty, Eve. I was debating whether to join a couple of old friends on a walk down memory lane for a Transit/PNE adventure tomorrow. I had pretty much decided against it when this came up. I’ll save the money and forgo the hour and a half Canada Line/bus odyssey and meet them later for dinner. You know what they say – nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. 😄
These types of fairs no longer have the pull or caché nor relevance they had decades ago. It is a different era now, one you could say is not only changed by the internet, but also by how we engage in society.
The PNE was always anticipated, and made more participating by having a very long parade that kicked off the event, where we would line the streets either downtown Vancouver, or way out along East Hastings, talking to your curb neighbours. Floats from various towns and areas of BC meant the entire Province was connected and contributing.
The current concept is unsustainable. I have plenty of suggestions, but who would listen? I think one thing we can all agree on is that its demise is imminent as it cannot survive on nostalgia alone.
Excellent photos Bruce Stewart!
True that it is not as great as it used to be. But I still enjoy the memories of how much fun it was. The PNE of today is still something to enjoy. 🙂
Glad you had a good time Lori!
Thanks for another good article Eve. As a youngster I liked “Laugh In the Dark” ? and of course the bumper cars. Haven’t been back since 1979.
I thought of going but then I remembered no PNE home on site.
I always bought my tickets after veiwing the house. This year I bought them on line. When I grew up we had the PNE parade, The Shriners Circus. A few bingo tents. The food court was fantastic. Horse racing was on. Maybe it’s time to move it to a city that wants it. Make sure it’s by a SkyTrain.
I am the Christine that you posted my post. How does this get to your post? it was ‘friends’, not Public.
I used first names only and all comments were either left on my public FB pages or on my public blog.
I volunteered for many many years at the Kiwanis Good Food Booth at the PNE spending many many evenings supervising the booth and now the club is gone and so is the booth.We were the only charity in the fair and raised money for Vancouver East giving money also to the food bank and Union Gospel Mission, I think the fair should relocate to Langley or another smaller community in the greater Vancouver area. The land at the PNE could be low cost housing perhaps.
The building with the huge map of BC… Yeah.