No better way to spend a day – visit the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Livestock Show & Fair, beginning Thursday, August 15 at 4 pm, and running through Sunday, August 18 at 10:00 pm. The event takes place at 35 Panhandle Road in West Tisbury. For complete information, visit https://marthasvineyardagriculturalsociety.org/the-fair
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show & Fair has grown into a four day island institution. From humble origins as a single day exhibition showcasing livestock and the enterprise of everyday life, the Fair has grown into an Island institution. The token final hurrah of summer, it is the place where islanders of all ages gather to meet—and eat—in the heat. The 161st Fair takes place this year August 17 – 20, and the theme is Grow it, Sew it, Show it!! For details on exhibiting, visit https://marthasvineyardagriculturalsociety.org/the-fair
Fall was the time for 19th-century Agricultural Societies to hold a Cattle Show. Many shows also included an Exhibition of Domestic Manufacture. Throughout the weekend, the staff at Old Sturbridge Village is recreating such a display. Please stop by to see an exhibition of vegetables, fruit, butter, cheese, and items of home manufacture such as handwoven cotton and woolen fabrics, knitted stockings and shawls, and fancy work. Village manufactured items such as shoes, tin, pottery, brooms, baskets, straw braid, and books will also be on display.
Also this weekend, learn about saving your seeds for next year’s garden and preserving vegetables to last all year. Watch us use our dried flowers to make everlasting bouquets and weave baskets that are used for harvesting crops. For a complete schedule of events and directions visit https://www.osv.org/event/agriculture-fair-weekend/
Come and enjoy eleven days of agriculture, entertainment, and great food, from Friday, September 29 (1:00 pm – 11:00 pm) through Monday, October 9 (October 1-10, 10:00 am – 11:00 am) at the Topsfield Fair, 207 Boston Street in Topsfield. The colorful and often exciting history of Topsfield Fair began in 1818 when the Essex Agricultural Society, the non-profit organization that owns the Topsfield Fair, was officially granted a charter on June 12th of that year.
The goal of the fledgling Society, formed by a group of “practical farmers” who first met on February 16, 1818, was “to promote and improve the agricultural interests of farmers and others in Essex County.” Now, nearly 200 years later, the Society still strives to do this, “to encourage, promote and preserve Essex County agricultural activities and to educate the general public regarding their importance in an atmosphere of fun and excitement through the medium of the Topsfield Fair.” See Swifty Swine Racing Pigs, a New England Rodeo, and the Flying Wallendas, among other attractions. For complete schedule of activities visit www.topsfieldfair.org.
The Barnstable County Agricultural Society held its first fair, consisting primarily of livestock and handicraft exhibits, in October of 1844 at the County Court House in Barnstable Village. Proceeds collected from ticket sales and exhibitor fees are re-invested in the Fairgrounds for capital improvements and mortgage repayments, awarded as scholarships to young people pursuing careers in agriculture, conservation or elated fields, or distributed to charitable causes. The staff at the Barnstable County Fair and the Cape Cod Fairgrounds hope you have a great time at the fair, held this year July 18 – 24. Should you have any questions or feedback please email info@barnstablecountyfair.org, or call 508-563-3200. The Fairgrounds are located at 1220 Nathan Ellis Highway, Route 151, East Falmouth, Massachusetts. There will be a standard flower show at the Fair, along with live entertainment. Visit www.barnstablecountyfair.org for complete schedules.
The Westport Fair will take place July 13 – 17 at 200 Pine Hill Road in Westport, and will include a tractor pull, baking contest, canning competition, vegetable competition, and a quilt contest, along with live entertainment, a carnival, craft building, great food, and much more. Visit www.westportfair.com for a complete schedule of times, and directions.
The Country Fair at Hancock Shaker Village on Saturday and Sunday, September 25 – 26 from 10 – 5 celebrates the bounty of the harvest with agricultural demonstrations, wagon rides, a fabulous Farmers Market, and huge tents full of the work of the best local and regional crafters and artisans. Come out to the farm and see all the Country Fair has to offer. At the Country Fair, vendors fill the Village with delightful fresh produce, finished farm products, and crafts of all sorts. The Farmers Market tents boast vegetables, flowers, maple sugar treats and hand-made cheeses. Artisans have furniture, Shaker style oval boxes, original paintings, candles and hand-woven textiles available for purchase. Plan plenty of browsing time for this amazing marketplace! Don’t miss the Food Tent with area restaurants and brews! Try your hand as a Shaker Baker in our Country Fair Pie Contest – in 2009, thirteen pies were entered, and this year’s judges include New Yorker writer Susan Orlean, Berkshire Living editor Lesley Ann Beck, Berkshire Eagle executive editor Tim Farkas, and RuralIntelligence.com co-founder Marilyn Bethany. A display of quilts in the Round Stone Barn ell has become an integral part of the Country Fair each year. Over 60 antique and newly made quilts are displayed in this juried show, fine examples of craftsmanship and tradition. You can submit a quilt for exhibition.  Adults – $17, Children 13 – 17 – $8, Children under 12 and Hancock Shaker Village Members Free. For directions and more information, log on to www.hancockshakervillage.org.
The 100th annual agricultural fair of Rochester Grange will be held on Saturday, August 21 at the Rochester Grange Hall, 200 Hartley Road in Rochester (about 50 minutes south of Boston – see map below). Exhibits will be open to the public beginning at 1:30 pm. The Grange will conduct various raffles, and there are baked goods, handiwork, and cold beverages for sale. Special musical entertainment will feature Celtic fiddler Tiffany Rozenas. The traditional ham and bean supper will be served at 6 pm, and will include ham, kidney beans, baked beans, rolls and butter, coffee, punch, potato salad, corn on the cob, and dessert. The super cost is $7 for adults and $3 for children under 10. Following the supper, the fair auction will begin at 7:15, and you will have the opportunity to bid on and purchase the prize winning fruits, vegetables, flowers, and baked goods from the fair.
In the fall of 1905 Mr. Allen made rounds of the homes in Rochester with the hope of interesting people in founding a local Grange. He was successful. On February 12th, 1906, the first meeting of Rochester Grange was held in the North Rochester Social Union Hall on Snipatuit Road in North Rochester. The hall was small, lit by oil lamps, with a kitchen and dining hall on the second floor and no running water. Subsequently the Grange Hall on Hartley Road was built. The Grange Fair and the auction are free and open to the public – if you haven’t experienced a Grange Fair, you should try to get to this one, since the Grange members will be pulling out all the stops for the 100th!
Maine’s Blue Ribbon Classic agricultural fair will take place this year Sunday, October 4 – Sunday, October 11. The West Oxford Agricultural Society, presenters of the Fryeburg Fair, was incorporated on June 3, 1851. Originally, nine Maine towns were included, with six New Hampshire towns added in 1888. After moving from town to town for the first few years, a permanent fair site was purchased in Fryeburg. After nearly 30 years it moved to its present location, north of town, with the purchase of 26 acres for $133. The first fair was held there in 1885. Dyring the next 100 plus years it has expanded to 180 acres and includes 100 permanent buildings, with over 3,000 camping sites. Currently, about 300,000 people attend the fair annually.
Attractions include 4-H riding horse shows, sheepdog trials, poultry and flower shows, fleece and fiber shows, Society Pig Scrambles (no, we don’t know what that is), tractor pulls, woodsmen’s field days (watch people throw axes!), Christmas tree exhibits, lamb shows, dairy goat shows, llama shows, draft horse shows, blueberry dessert contests, and wreath making demonstrations, but this is just a drop in the bucket of the hundreds of activities scheduled. For complete information, log on to www.fryeburgfair.com. Tickets are $8 Sunday through Friday and the last Sunday, and $10 on Saturday. Parking on grounds is $5. For information call 207-935-3268.
Experience an old-fashioned agricultural exhibition complete with demonstrations of early New England farm equipment and displays in the Center Meetinghouse of Old Sturbridge Village. Displays will include Village-grown heirloom vegetables and agricultural accomplishments. Plan now to join the exhibition of Visitor-grown heirloom vegetables. For more information log on to www.osv.org.
