Sunday was the end of the eight-annual Maple Creek Heritage Festival, as it was the festival's first time being a two-day event.

The main day was Saturday, as the town continued to celebrate the official designation of the downtown core into a municipal heritage district.

The designation came in the fall of 2009, and it was the first heritage district designated in a rural community in Saskatchewan.

Festivities from the weekend included a Saturday-night concert by Canadian country artist Brad Johner, a Cowtown parade and a dancing demonstration by Nekaneet First Nation.

Royce Pettyjohn is the manager of community and economic development as well as the Main Street program coordinator for Maple Creek. He said the Heritage Festival has always been a great way to celebrate what shaped Maple Creek to be the way it is today.

"In Maple Creek we're very fortunate to have a fairly broad and rich history," said Pettyjohn. "It's an opportunity for us to celebrate that heritage and come together as a community. Of course heritage isn't just something that's stagnant, that's in the past, it's really how we came to be who we are today. So the festival's an opportunity for us to celebrate Maple Creek, to celebrate the Maple Creek Heritage District, and to invite people to come to our town and share that with us."

Following the designation as a heritage district, the first festival was held in the summer of 2010.

Pettyjohn said the rehabilitation to the downtown core really added to the festival.

"As a result of the downtown being designated as a municipal heritage district, and as a result of Maple Creek participating in the Main Street Saskatchewan Program, we were able to do rehabilitation to about 14 historic buildings in the downtown core," Pettyjohn said. "So it's really changed the look and feel of the Heritage District, and it's created a wonderful backdrop for our annual festival."

Proceeds from the Johner concert were to support the Maple Creek Cowtown Pro Rodeo. The rodeo was initially scheduled to be held July 20-22, but was cancelled.