FERGUS – The theme of this year’s Fergus Fall Fair is “Jammin’ at the Fair” and it’s true in every sense of the phrase, said Tayler Black, past president of the Fergus Agricultural Society, which has organized the fair for some 188 years.
The fair runs Sept. 12 to 14 at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex, and the music will be jammin’, the jams and other homecraft entries will be jammin’, and with good weather and good planning, the park will be jammed with happy fairgoers.
Friday
“Music is a big part of the fair,” Black said. “There’s always been entertainment in the hall but now we have a second stage at the ball diamond.”
Chris Clark, who takes the stage at 7:30pm, is one of the musical acts Black said he’s looking forward to.
“He’s making a name for himself in the country music scene and we’ve got him on the Friday night.”
Cara Smith also plays the main stage on Friday at 5pm.
The midway is open from 5 to 11pm; from 5 to 8pm is kids’ programming with face painting, farm animals and the toddler farmyard touch a tractor event.
The beer garden is open from 5pm to midnight; the farm market tent from 5 to 9pm and the big event of the evening is the tractors pulls, which start at 6:30pm.
Saturday
Gates open at 9am and a full day of contests, workshops, music and food is in store.
The exhibit hall is open from 9am to 9pm and features all the contest entries and winners.
There are over 700 competitions to enter – yes there’s jam — but other homewares, antiques, poultry, fruits and vegetables, western games and school exhibits will be featured, too.
Check out the fair book for details of the categories, how to enter, and what the judges will be looking for.
The Shawn Connerys hit the main stage at 2:30pm; Dean James comes on at 5:15pm.
There are all kinds of demonstrations throughout the day, from sheep herding to the dairy and beef cattle shows, to horseshoeing demos.
I saw that – Farmers would have had to fell a few trees to get their crops in so lumberjacking isn’t far from agriculture. This demonstration was a big hit at last year’s fair. Advertiser file photo
The mini modified and truck pull starts at 6pm.
The beer garden runs from 5pm to midnight.
The midway runs from 11am to 11pm.
Sunday
Gates open at 9am on Sunday, the main stage starts up at 11am, the baby show is at noon and all kinds of demonstrations take place all afternoon.
Black said fairgoers should find a big improvement with the midway this year. Also returning is the bale maze.
“It’s a fun time and we had great feedback,” Black said. It’s also a fun way to connect with agriculture, which is what the fair is really about, he said.
The truck and tractor pulls are popular and they’ll never go away, Black said.
It’s the same with the hall exhibits, the animal tents, and the competitions.
“People expect to see animals and we’ve got them,” Black said. “Our agriculture awareness committee has also organized a number of events to keep that connection to agriculture.
“Our roots started in agriculture, and we want to keep that.”
Take the shuttle
If you’ve been before, you know parking is an issue at the community centre.
Black said they’ve arranged a free shuttle bus to run from the parking lot at AO Smith (599 Hill St. Fergus) to the fairgrounds. There’s limited parking on site, and on-street parking in the vicinity is often taken.
Admission
Weekend passes for adults are $35; $20 for students (13 to 18) and $20 for seniors.
A family day pass (two adults, two youth) costs $25 and is available until 5pm.
Daytime admission for adults is $10; $4 for ages 6 to 12 and $8 for ages 13 to 18. Children under 5 are free.
Advance tickets can be purchased online at fergusfallfair.ca; they are also available at the gate by cash, debit or credit card.
Black has a long history of volunteering with the fair.
He became a junior director in 2010, then an ambassador, and has been on many committees before becoming president.
“I may be past-president, but I never stopped being involved,” he said.
Black said there’s a lot to look forward to at the fair, “but the personal highlight for me is seeing the community come together,” he said.
“It might be corny, but people come year after year, they volunteer year after year and it’s just great to see.”
People should keep their eyes peeled as they drive around the community for people who have entered the promotional display competition.
These creative people take farm implements and the theme for the year and run with it to create displays in their yard or business to promote the fair.
