SURREY — An annual show in Cloverdale devoted to hunting, fishing and other outdoorsy pursuits has a new name and renewed focus on firearms.
The event, formerly the BC Rod and Gun Show, is now called Cloverdale Hunting and Fishing Show, which runs from Friday to Sunday at the fairgrounds’ Agriplex and Show Barn buildings.
“A lot of people didn’t like the word ‘gun’ in the name, put it that way,” show manager Steven Bednash said when asked about the change. “So we thought that instead of rocking the boat, we’d sort of play along. But we’re more than a gun show anyway, right? It’s just that the name is so long now,” he added with a laugh.
The third edition of the show boasts “more firearms this year than ever before,” Bednash said, “but still only rifles and shotguns, no ammunition. There’s a huge market here for that, because Surrey’s huge into hunting and fishing.”
Last April, in an eleventh-hour decision, Surrey city council granted event organizers permission to sell firearms at the show, but said no to handguns and ammunition.
“Last year, with all the controversy, everybody thought we were shut down, but we weren’t, so our attendance was down from the first year, and hopefully we’re going to have it back up,” said Bednash.
This time around, close to 200 vendors are part of the three-day event, which is billed as “Surrey’s only new &used hunting and fishing show.”
Event highlights include a live trout pond, a 3D archery range, a midway-style shooting gallery (“where you shoot the star out of a piece of paper,” Bednash said), a large display of old military weapons and a popular charity casting pond sponsored by Willowbrook Chrysler.
“They put up a $50,000 truck, with the same idea as a hole-in-one contest (at a golf tournament),” he explained. “The pond is 60 feet long by 12 feet wide. There’s a magnet on the end of the fishing line, you cast in, you pull out a metal disc and if there’s something written on it, you win a prize, one of tons of prizes, and if you get one that says ‘castoff,’ you’re into the final castoff to win the truck.”
Doors open at noon on Friday (April 28). Event admission is $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors, and $25 for a family day pass. More details can be found at CloverdaleHuntingandFishingShow.com, or call 778-869-4867.