SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — An event that screams summer is now underway at the Sioux Falls Arena and Convention Center.
“Spring’s kind of peeking around the corner, it’s a great time to start planning your summer,” Sportsmen’s Show Event Manager Barry Cenaiko said.
Hundreds of vendors, most with a passion for the outdoors, have spent the past two days setting up shop at the Sioux Empire Sportsmen’s Show.
“We’re chocked full of boats, campers, RVs, and personal watercraft, so if you want anything from a pop-up camper to a big diesel bus, we have that over there, pontoons, fishing boats, personal watercraft, all that stuff is here on display,” Sportsmen’s Show Manager Barry Cenaiko said.
Show Manager Barry Cenaiko says the adventures don’t end in the convention center.
“In the Arena, we’re full of resorts, lodges, travel destinations, maybe you want to camp the Black Hills, maybe you want to fly-in fish in Canada, maybe you want to book an African safari,” Cenaiko said.
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There’s no shortage of big-ticket items at the Sportsmen’s Show, and Cenaiko says not everyone is pinching their pennies.
“The people who are out there and they’re set in their life and they have their money, nothing’s changing with them. Some of the other economic levels, they’re kind of holding off a little bit,” Cenaiko said.
“Our demographics change a little bit as the economy goes up and goes down,” North Country Canoe Outfitters owner John Schiefelbein said. “In the big scheme of things, we’re a relatively inexpensive vacation compared to some of the offerings here,” Schiefelbein added.
John Schiefelbein is the owner of North Country Canoe Outfitters in Ely, Minnesota.
“We outfit people for a Boundary Waters canoe experience,” Schiefelbein said. “They want to do a five-day trip and look for islands and waterfalls and moose and eagles and otters and beavers, and somebody else, ‘John, I don’t care if I see anybody, I want to catch Northern Pike’,” Schiefelbein added.
If the Sportsmen’s Show is your family’s staycation, there’s a live trout pond, seminars, and the Wildlife Adventure Center.
“We’re going to have baby kangaroo, live giant tortoises, bunch of snakes, boa constrictors, and those are all on display during the show but they also have specific show times,” Cenaiko said.
The Sportsmen’s Show and continues through Sunday. Admission is $12 for adults, $4 for children ages 6-to-12, and free for kids 5-and-under.
