Barbara Jean Batten hasn’t missed a year at the Ex since she was born, and now the annual festival is rewarding the 81-year-old with free entry for the rest of her life.

“My mum always brought us in carriages, and I brought my children in carriages,” she told reporters on Friday. “We had to go to the parade because my grandpa and my uncle were in it — so that was a must.”

Batten’s connections to the festival go back almost a century. Back in the 1930s, her father competed in music competitions at the CNE and — except for during the Second World War and COVID-19 pandemic — Batten has been to every single iteration of the event.

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