Andrew Freniere arranges concessions, rides and commercial exhibitors for the Westfield Fair, Aug. 16-18.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
Every weekend in August offers guaranteed fun for the whole family with a trip to a local New England country fair. Entry fees are reasonable, ranging anywhere from $7 to $12 for adults, depending on the fair, with discounts for seniors and veterans, and for most, admission for children under 12 is free.
The fairs in Western Massachusetts have a long history, ranging from the Westfield Fair at 96 years old, to two fairs claiming titles of oldest and longest continuously operating.
The Hardwick Community Fair in Worcester County on Aug. 16 and 17 calls itself “The Oldest Fair in the United States,” as it was first established by Brigadier General Timothy Ruggles in 1762 under British rule. During the Revolutionary War, Ruggles, being a loyalist, was exiled to Canada, and the fair lapsed for a generation. Brought back in 1828, the fair lapsed again in 1861 due to the Civil War, restarting in 1905.
Staying true to its historical roots, the Hardwick Fair is hosted on the Town Common and offers blacksmithing, pottery and sheep shearing demonstrations and a lumberjack contest. The full program and history of the Hardwick Fair may be found at www.hardwickfair.com.
The Three County Fair in Northampton, hosted over Labor Day weekend, Aug 30 to Sept. 2, stakes the claim of being recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the oldest ongoing Fair in continuous operation in the U.S., with the first one taking place on Oct. 14-15, 1818, and every year since without interruption.
Asked why people should attend a New England Country Fair this month, Taylor Haas, executive director of the Three County Fair, said country fairs offer “a charming, intimate and enriching experience that showcases the best of our community and local culture.”
Haas said the Three County Fair offers everything from agricultural and craft exhibits and competitions, rides and games, demolition derbies, local music and food trucks from around the area. “We offer an exciting experience and opportunity to create traditions and memories with loved ones, in our small community.”
Andrew Freniere, who arranges concessions, rides and commercial exhibitors for the Westfield Fair also had a lot to say about why people should go.
“If I had to sum it up in one sentence it would be to support your local farmers, small business and agriculture education. The Westfield Fair holds onto its core values and we strive to keep them. Our fair is a nonprofit agriculture-based fair providing the opportunity for local exhibitors to enter and compete in agriculture based competitions,” said Freniere.
“When you walk through our building and see sheep, dairy cows, beef cows, horse pulling, oxen pulling and the many exhibits in our hall; these exhibits are all local farmers, 4-H youth, animal owners, and the public who have come to our fair to compete in these competitions,” he added.
Freniere said the admission fee for the Westfield Fair goes directly to paying premiums for competition winners, and for upkeep on the grounds to keep the fair going from year to year.
“Fairs are a great end of summer tradition that bring people together from all over to exhibit all types of agriculture, compete with others with similar interests. Also there’s food, music, games, rides, animals, motor sports and so much more,” said Albert Judd, president of the four-day Cummington Fair which is in its 156th year, running from Aug. 22-25.
Most of the fairs are run entirely by volunteers. Brenda Blood, secretary of the all-volunteer Blandford Fair in its 155th year over Labor Day weekend, is in her 50th year serving as its secretary, after having a couple of years prior to that running the adult exhibit hall at the fair.
Asked what it is she loves most about the Blandford Fair that keeps her coming back, she said without hesitation it’s the people. “I love the people. It’s people that you only see maybe once a year, during the fair,” Blood said.
The Westfield Fair is also 100% volunteer, according to Freniere. “What that means is that everything you see at the Westfield Fair was done out of the kindness and gratitude from its volunteers and sponsors.”
“The three days in August take 365 days of planning and thousands of hours of volunteering. Our volunteers all have different reasons but to sum it up we are here to keep the tradition alive, promote the importance of local agriculture, provide the opportunity to be an exhibitor at our fair, and provide New England the opportunity to enjoy and take part in the best fair around,” Freniere said.
“Being able to see families come and enjoy our fair with smiles on their faces, making memories, and learning and experiencing local agriculture is why we do what we do. I will argue it will be hard pressed to find a group of people like our volunteers working to put on the best fair possible,” he added.
Judd said the Cummington Fair Board that plans and runs the fair are all volunteers.
“We do however now have payroll employees at fair time to help cover a lot of tasks that were once all volunteers, and like any business currently, we’re always looking for a few more folks to help out,” Judd said.
Anyone interested may go to cummingtonfair.com, and click on the exhibitors & vendors, and employment.
Haas said the Three County Fair is run by a combination of staff that work year round and volunteers from the community.
“We couldn’t run such an activity-filled traditional fair without the help of our volunteers,” Haas said.
Each fair also has its own unique events and flavor. The Middlefield Fair on Aug. 9-11, first held in 1856, starts with Fair Bingo and the Ken Boisseau Memorial Diesel Truck Pull on Friday night, with both Saturday and Sunday filled with activities ranging from a Petting Zoo and Bubba’s Snakes and Reptiles on the Midway, displays in the Exhibit Hall, to a car, truck and tractor show, a ham dinner on Saturday and turkey dinner on Sunday. The full list of events is available at www.middlefieldfair.org.
“The Three County Fair is different in so many ways,” said Haas. “We offer a community atmosphere filled with local culture, less crowds, free parking and a more affordable fair experience for the whole family. It is the iconic, traditional county fair experience right here in your backyard. Plus, demolition derbies, racing pigs, our Baby Barnyard and competitions that are accessible to everyone,” Haas said, calling it “a final salute to summer over Labor Day weekend.”
Blood said the Blandford Fair, also on Labor Day weekend, has a couple of unique features, beginning with an art show of over 100 artists. “There’s some beautiful art work in there, too,” she said.
“We have a cattle show, sheep shows, oxen and horse draws; a two day horse show and a goat show. Plus it’s a lot safer for kids,” Blood said. She said there are exhibits for both children and adults, where they can enter flowers, crafts and home-cooked food.
Freniere said everything about The Westfield Fair is unique, but to name one thing he would say it is the hay bale toss event which this year will take place on the second day of the fair on Aug. 18 at 12:30 p.m. during a break in the Lucky E. Rodeo, which is returning for its second year.
Freniere said anyone can enter the hay bale toss that goes back to the roots of farming and competing.
“In this event people compete to see who can toss a hay bale the highest in knockout style competitions. Before the days of modern equipment farmers would square bale thousands of square hay bales for the animals. With the massive amount of labor involved, everyone would be recruited to help. Family, friends and neighbors would gather on summer days to complete this task. In true New England fashion this would turn into a competition to see who was the strongest and could throw the bale the highest on the haystack.”
Sheila Phelon, president of the Westfield Fair board, said the hay bale toss is a huge competition among the people who volunteer at the fair. She said it is also unique — she doesn’t know another fair that has one. She also mentioned the 4-H Youth Day on Saturday, which is packed full of games and activities for kids.
However, for Phelon, what makes the Westfield Fair unique is something else. “It’s the longevity of the families involved. We have a very unique organization, long running with long family ties — three or four families that have been involved from the beginning and all their relatives are involved. Without them we wouldn’t have a fair,” she said.
“I’d say every fair is unique and has its own ‘flavor.’ When I go to any fair around they never feel exactly the same. And I think it’s different for everyone that comes to the same fair. One person may love a certain fair for a certain reason and the next person going to the same fair has a different reason,” said Judd, adding, “That’s why someone should get out and see them all.”
Schedule of upcoming Western Massachusetts country fairs:
- Middlefield Fair (www.middlefieldfair.org) Aug. 9-11, 7 Bell Rd., Middlefield.
- Hardwick Fair, (www.hardwickfair.com) Aug. 16-17, Hardwick Town Common, Hardwick.
- Westfield Fair (www.thewestfieldfair.com) Aug. 16-18, 137 Russellville Rd., Westfield.
- Cummington Fair (www.cummingtonfair.com) Aug. 22-25, Cummington Fairgrounds, Cummington.
- Blandford Fair (www.blandfordfair.org) Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, 10 North St., Blandford.
- Three County Fair (www.3countyfair.com) Aug. 30 to Sept. 2, 54 Fair St., Northampton.
