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The Canadian Lakehead Exhibition is back for its 133rd year, with all the fun and excitement the midway, vendors and live music it has to offer.

Fair Chair Basil Lichwood says Covid hit the CLE pretty hard but it rebounded last year with more than 74 thousand people in attendance, a trend he notes which looks to continue for 2023.

“To tell ya the truth, our ticket sales this year are on par at this time as last year but definitely we’re looking at another record crowd.”

With numbers like that Lichwood notes the economic impact to the city will be big.

“We have a formula sheet that we have here, it calculates that we put in through our exhibition here roughly $9 million in impact on the city.”

Guest purchases outside of the CLE which contribute to that amount include hotels, gas, off site food and other items and amenities.

Everything kicks off today at noon and will run until the 13th.