It’s the final weekend of the PNE, and in an "unprecedented" push to boost Fair numbers admission will be free between select hours.

The PNE is offering free entrance between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday after last weekend’s windstorm – and the subsequent wet and chilly weather - put a damper on attendance numbers.

“The first five operating days of the Fair saw the strongest attendance in a decade,” says PNE president Mike McDaniel in a media release. “We were tracking to have the best attendance in recent memory, but the wet weather that set in on Friday brought the coldest days in the city since spring… unfortunately the wheels fell off when the storm hit.”

The Fair actually shut down for an hour during the massive Lower Mainland storm on Aug. 29, notes McDaniel, opening again after Environment Canada cancelled the high wind warning. Now organizers are encouraging British Columbians to come out and support the PNE.

“This is about calling on British Columbia to come out during this incredibly challenging time in our history and support our non-profit B.C. institution,” says McDaniel. “Beyond that, it’s about supporting youth employment and countless small businesses that rely on the PNE Fair.”

The PNE wasn’t the only major event affected by the storm. The seventh annual Ride to Conquer Cancer, which raised $8.4 million, started as planned in B.C. in the morning but was eventually called off.

Further, an estimated 500,000 people were left without power after gusting winds started walloping the South Coast last Saturday, downing about 500 trees onto homes, cars and power lines in the City of Vancouver alone.