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Commerce
Today, ranching, farming, forestry, transportation and tourism are the primary
industries. Merritt is the nearest large community to the Douglas Lake Cattle
Company, Canada's largest working cattle ranch. A number of lumber mills operate
from Merritt, though recent efforts have been made to remove working mills from
the downtown core due to air quality concerns. Merritt hosts a yearly Merritt
Mountain Music Festival that draws more than 120,000 people every July. The
Mountain Music Festival, combined with the development of the Merritt Walk of
Stars - a display of bronzed handprints of Mountainfest artists placed around
the community - and other tourism development activities have been used to
solidify the city's branding as the Country Music Capital of Canada. It is the
centre of three branches of the Coquihalla Highways. A newer feature in Merritt
is the Pacific Forest Rally, an off-road rally conducted as part of the Canadian
Rally Championship series every October. The annual Thunderbird Rally often
begins and ends in Merritt.
Merritt on film
The debut episode of Smallville was partly filmed on location in Merritt. Jack
Nickolson's'The Pledge (2000) and the remake of The Wicker Man (2006) were also
filmed partly in the area.
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