Take a bite your of Whoop-Up Days

By Lethbridge Herald on August 12, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

A traditional food staple from Whoop-Up Days is getting a makeover to offer a more convenient way to enjoy it, while still holding on to the old ways of supporting local charities. 

Whoop-Up Days attendees who have come to love Jumbo Ears, not only as a treat that brings back memories from past fairs, but also as a way to support local charities, can now enjoy them as Jumbo Bites. 

Paul Kingsmith, director event development says the change is taking place because of aging equipment and infrastructure.  

“As that program has evolved it required specialized equipment that with time is aging out and it’s becoming less safe,” says Kingsmith. “And the quality of the product was not as consistently good as it has been in previous years,.”

He says this is why they needed to step back and look at ways to still be able to deliver that program, and that is how they decided to team up with LA Chefs to use a more sustainable process that ensures a higher quality. 

“It was a tough job,” he jokes, “but we tasted a bunch of them, and this product is delicious, and it allows us to do something a little bit more innovative and more fun.”

One of those innovations is dips people can use to enhance the flavour of the bites. 

“But rest assured that the flavour and the taste will take you right back to Jumbo Ears and you are not going to notice a difference that way,” says Kingsmith. 

He also explains that the tradition of Jumbo Ears donating a portion of the proceeds to a local charity, and members of the charity being involved in the process, will remain. 

This year the Lethbridge Longhorns baseball program will once again be the charitable partner, with members preparing and serving Jumbo Bites in exchange for a share of the proceeds.

“They have been a great partner over the past couple of years,” says Kingsmith. “The energy and the effort they put into making this a success, and they are so easy to deal with, that we are just happy to support them.”

Visitors will be able to find Jumbo Bites easily on the midway, as they will be located near a piece of local history that doesn’t get the chance to see the light of day very often: the last remaining streetcar from Lethbridge.

“ We figured that if we can put that in the midway, make it an area that people would want to visit, they learn a little bit of the history of the fair and the city, and then we can expand this with those fair favourite treats,” says Kingsmith. 

This year Whoop-Up Days is also introducing new treats for people to enjoy. In addition to the Jumbo Bites, a new food activation known as 6Th Street Sweets will feature a variety of local street corn on the cob, caramel popcorn, dirty sodas, scoop ice cream and floats. 

“Food is always one of the top three reasons people come to a fair,” says Kingsmith. “Food is such a uniting factor in any facet of life, that I think it’s an important piece, it connects people and connects memories with a time and feeling and the nostalgia that comes with it.”

He adds that 20 food trucks will also be joining Whoop Up Days to create an atmosphere where people can enjoy any kind of food they want. 

Whoop-Up Days will run from Aug. 19 to Aug. 23 with an extra wrap-up day on Aug. 24.