CAMBRIDGE -- After 60 years, the annual Preston Kinsmen Carnival shows no sign of fading into history.

While other family-themed events in the area have struggled or folded -- like Kitchener's Central Ontario Exhibition or an annual Rotary Club fundraising carnival -- the free-admission Kinsmen event in Cambridge appears healthier than ever.

This year's sour economy may boost the turnout for the four-day party in Riverside Park, if advance sales of discounted midway tickets are any indication.

"I've had people calling up saying they've sold out, wanting more," carnival committee chair Dwayne Loughlean said last week.

That doesn't usually happen until the last couple of days before the show, which this year runs Thursday through Sunday.

The $30 packet of tickets sell for $20 until Friday, at Zehrs and Giant Tiger stores in Cambridge.

That kind of early interest from families looking to stretch pennies makes Loughlean hopeful of a big year raising money for community events and programs. In recent years, the carnival has generated $15,000 to $20,000 profit.

"It's our biggest fundraiser of the year," said Earl Grubb, a Preston Kinsman who ran last year's show.

"It's a great family show. We strive to keep that family image. We don't have a beer tent."

The only thing that can spoil the party is rain.

"We don't say the R-word," Loughlean said.

Grubb, a member of the service club for 40 years, has three times headed the carnival committee. When he wasn't, he was always tapped on the shoulder to provide prizes. Early on, as manager of the St. Clair Radio store in Preston, he was a popular guy.

While now a last-weekend-of-May fixture in Riverside Park, the carnival has moved around over the years.

The first carnival was held July 1, 1949, starting with a parade marching everyone in Preston to a Dominion Day party in Riverside Park. By the 1960s, it had moved to the old Preston Arena at Lowther and Moore streets, supplemented with a circus tent

In May 1972, the arena burned to the ground, leaving the carnival homeless two weeks before the event. Club members scrambled to move back to Riverside. Town crews quickly strung temporary hydro and water lines to the site so the show could go on.

That year was one of the carnival's biggest and the Kinsmen donated all proceeds to the arena rebuilding fund.

In 1979, the carnival was homeless again because striking city workers picketed the front gate of Riverside. The show went to Dumfries Park, which is owned by the Grand River Conservation Authority.

Events from the past will return for the 60th anniversary. Saturday, a parade will form at King and Bishop streets and head through old Preston to the park. At the same time, Preston merchants plan to turn downtown into the biggest garage sale in the region.

Also Saturday, Kinsmen will revive the kid-friendly bicycle and wagon decoration contests, with prized handed out to the most imaginative decoration. Children can also try a Guitar Hero contest, while their parents play traditional games of chance such as crown and anchor.

Along with the midway, the Preston Kinsmen Rock and Roll Revival show -- usually held in the fall -- will take the stage in Riverside. And Kinsmen will have their industrial-sized barbecues fired up to serve the throng.

With a club of just 17 members, it takes months of work to arrange the show, Loughlean said. But when the carnival starts setting up, reserves arrive by the score: redshirted members of area Kinsmen and Kinette clubs, along with dozens of community volunteers.

"When you see smiles on the kids' faces, that's reward enough,'' he said.

kswayze@cambridgereporter.com