Carnie Knowledge in Canada
For more than 45 years, West Coast Amusements, a homegrown multi-generational travelling carnival business, has brought a pirate ship of fun to millions of thrill-seekers on its way to becoming the largest mobile midway outfit in Canada.
To find the Hauser family under one roof, or in any fixed structure, you have to show up long before the Whack-a-Mole comes out of hibernation. By late March, B.C.’s most enduring carnival family departs from winter digs in the Fraser Valley and splits into four mobile midways, travelling throughout B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan. In RVs and some 200 trucks emblazoned with vivid carnival paintings and the West Coast Amusements Ltd. (WCA) trademark lion logo, the units carry over 100 rides, 85 concessions, 80 games and all the infrastructure of a self-sufficient midway (20 bunkhouses for the up to 500 seasonal employees, 12 generators and three cookhouses) to a series of small events at B.C.’s malls and parks before hitting one of the more than 100 summer fairs and expos across Western Canada.
“Everyone’s got the itch to hit the road,” says WCA’s 84-year-old founder, Irvin “Bingo” Hauser, as we enter one of the two giant aircraft-hangar-sized buildings at the company’s 14-acre winter compound on Lickman Road, just north of Chilliwack. The spring itch is a common trait among carnies, but this close-knit family of 10 adults and seven children is not simply craving momentum and adventure. After spending the off-season (October to March) visiting carnivals in Europe, attending outdoor amusement trade shows in the U.S. and shopping for rides and equipment to the tune of about $1.5 million, says Hauser, “We need the money, honey! Doesn’t matter what you made last season – by spring you’re ready for the road.”
For the incredibly spry and steadfastly hands-on patriarch, that road remains a profitable one almost 70 years after he got his start on “the show,” as the carnival is called. Hauser won’t reveal WCA’s revenues or profits, but the company’s bread and butter remains the midways it takes to various fairs and expositions. WCA pays each fair board anywhere from 10 to 50 per cent of its gross revenues, with the lion’s share of those revenues coming from large expos such as the Saskatoon Exhibition and Vancouver’s Pacfic National Exhibition (the latter of which owns 30 of its own rides, but has an exclusive contract with WCA for another 20 rides and some games and concessions). According to the U.S.-based Outdoor Amusement Business Association, North America’s approximately 350 carnival operators generate an annual economic impact of some US$2 billion, with large operators (those with more than 50 rides) capable of grossing up to US$20 million each season.
Still, with so many speed bumps along the road – soaring fuel costs, increased bureaucratic expenses, labour shortages, shrinking budgets from fair boards and a growing array of entertainment choices vying for the public’s disposable dollars – many once-successful show families have fallen by the wayside. Others have been consolidated by a large U.S.-based conglomerate called North American Midway Entertainment (NAME), which bought Ontario-based Conklin Group, one of North America’s iconic carnival operators, in 2004. Today, only the most enterprising and dogged carnies remain independent family affairs.
WCA has not only survived the wild ride; it’s now the largest homegrown outfit in Canada. In addition to having a lock on the PNE – Canada’s third-largest summer fair, with close to a million annual visitors – WCA has the majority of the carnival operator contracts of B- and C-circuit fairs (anything with annual attendance figures under 200,000) west of Manitoba. These include B.C.’s second-largest annual fair, the Interior Provincial Exhibition and Stampede in Armstrong (with 159,000 expo visitors), and the Cloverdale Rodeo (with 70,000 visitors). The company also partners with NAME at The Saskatoon Ex, Red Deer’s Westerner Days and Canada’s second-ranked fair, the Calgary Stampede.
Save over 50% off the newsstand price with a subscription to BCBusiness Magazine
very enlightening
Submitted by Elly105 on Sun, 2011-07-24 20:32.Thanks for giving us a peek at the inside of an amazing family and and an industry that work very hard so the rest of us can have fun.