Friday was another round of Lobsterfest, in conjunction with the Yorkton Lions Club and the Yorkton Film Festival. This is an annual event and it was my 3rd year attending. While it was the coldest Lobsterfest at about 3°C I’ve been to, it was phenomenal as always.
Founded in 1947, the Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) has been a cornerstone of the Canadian film industry for over seven decades, making it the longest running film festival in North America. Originally established to promote and celebrate 16mm educational films, it quickly evolved to become a champion for all genres of short film, providing filmmakers with a dedicated platform to showcase their work. Throughout its history, YFF has seen significant milestones. It was in 1958 that the festival began awarding its signature Golden Sheaf Awards, which today remain a highly coveted accolade within the film community.
With the Yorkton Film Festival, comes the beauty that is known as Lobsterfest. The event is one that many look forward to, especially those coming from all over the country to attend the film festival. I was able to meet and chat with a few who worked at studios in Regina, Calgary and even Vancouver. It’s a place to eat, drink, network and have fun.
It starts right off the bat with a meal of either 1lb steak, or fresh lobster flown straight from Nova Scotia. I chose the steak, and it was not only cooked to a perfect rare/medium rare, but it was monstrous of a steak. The meal is served with unlimited mussels, baked potatoes, salads, buns, and dessert, as well as butter for the lobsters and mussels. I was full by the time I hit my last piece of steak. Alcohol was also served with the specialty “Lions Lager” by Back Forty Brewery. I tried one of those, as well as a cider and both were smooth and tasty.
After supper, you are free to leave, or stay to chat with people, and partake in some activities. The main one: skeet shooting. Despite the cold temperatures, grey skies and wind, people still had fun with it including me! Not only was this my second time ever skeet shooting (last year’s Lobsterfest was my first), but this was my second time using a shotgun. My record from last year was 1/10 clay pigeons, but this year upped my record to 5/10! Not bad for an amateur. It was a blast (literally). Take a look at some clips of me taking my shots below:
The evening slowly concludes with music by JJ Voss, as well as continued skeet shooting, a bonfire to warm up with, and just overall socializing. We left before the event wrapped up but it was a great time.
After chatting with the the president of the Yorkton Lions Club, Don Reed, he told me that Lobsterfest was a sold out event. Over 600 people in attendance, and 460 lobsters were flown in from Nova Scotia! That’s an insane amount of lobsters coming down to the prairies for this event. But when do you ever encounter something like this in western Canada? Well, that’s for next year’s Lobsterfest.
