The Canadian National Exhibition aka “The Ex” is an annual fair that first originated in 1879 for the “purpose of fostering the development of agriculture, industry and the arts.” While I wasn’t around in 1879, I am sure it has departed quite a bit from its industrial beginnings…now it is well known for its crazy food offerings (more on this later), rides for kids, and touristy show offerings.

Gates to the entrance:

There are lots of exhibits of course, like the air show, Super Dogs, sand sculpting, celebrity chefs, gardens, animals, arts & crafts, music, parades, food food and more food etc. I only visited a fraction of them so don’t take these pics as a review of the entire 18 day affair.

First up, the Canadian Armed Forces Interactive Area.

Nice grenade launcher

Yup I could use one of these

Various munitions on display

And the guy who clears them

Reminds me of Predator

That EOD suit is smaller than I expected lol

Lots of kids waiting in line to sit in the cockpit

Bunker display

Model of a sub..was it Canadian? Didn’t even know we had subs lol

Diver suit

Next up, Star Trek: 50 Artists, 50 Years

One of my favourite pieces..you could also get it on a mousepad

Incredible Borg ship

Look closely..it’s made up of little cars!!

Equally impressive was this Spock piece made up of string!

More artwork

Lots of Star Trek swag for sale

Including an Enterprise pizza cutter

And this Klingon Bat’leth

Ok now on to the food! The Ex is well known for its crazy food features..a couple of years ago I tried the Krispy Kreme burger (one of the most disgusting things I have ever tried), deep fried Coke and deep fried butter. This year they had a hot dog topped with cricket but I learned my lesson from the Krispy Kreme burger so I just stuck with a Philly Steak.

A sampling of the selection

Lots of shopping…including “international”..

And “local” fare

And finally the air show..in fairness, I did not go to the stands to watch it, just took some pics as they flew over the fairgrounds

So is it worth a visit? Well, it’s not something I would do every year, that’s for sure…I guess it could be fun for kids (there sure were lots of them)..i mainly went for the Canadian Forces and Star Trek displays, both of which were a lot smaller than I hoped. It will probably be a few years till I go again lol.

RL