It’s only days away before the Bayfield Fair presents its 159th weekend of competition, entertainment, and celebration of rural life.
The arena will be transformed into an exhibition hall, filled with handcrafts, food entries, vegetables, some fruit, massive quantities of flowers, woodworking, children’s entries, art, photography, and field crops. There will be a canoe on display to acknowledge Bayfield’s harbour heritage. Vendors will have items for sale or browse through. There will be a favourite spot to sit, talk, and eat homemade pie at the St. Andrew’s United Church booth. How more rural can one get. A grain bin will be available for the kids to play in. At a previous fair one lad learned that if you keep pounding wheat you create flour. What a powerful experience learning from where his food comes! The wiggle cars will be available for the young people as well. Some demonstrations will be held in the arena just inside the doors at the rest stop. Many even use the rest stop to visit with friends.
In the tent area people will be able to eat their ribs at Ribs Fest or watch the opening of the fair on Friday night. Art Bennett will have the honour of opening the fair as a tribute to the 100th anniversary of 4-H programming. The knife and ax throwing demonstration will be nearby as well as chainsaw carving. On Saturday and Sunday the dog agility show will perform. Clowns will be face painting and ballooning both afternoons. On Saturday two pipe bands will perform following the parade and later Dick Joiner will be performing his magic show to all ages. The children always enjoy the mini tractor pull held on the cement pad. All day Saturday 5 young performers will exhibit their musical talents on the Youth Stage near the tent. A dunk tank will be nearby and in use Saturday. Saturday evening the licensed Carnival Music Fest with Trent Severn and The Sadies will perform. On Sunday the Community Church Service will occur under the tent. The Pet Display Building is nearby and is busy all weekend and filled with a wide variety of animals to capture attention.
The auditorium will host the Rise2Fame Talent Show on Saturday evening and on Sunday the Jamboree will take place. Several people order a cold meats meal from the Jamboree committee to close off their day on Sunday.
The main show ring will feature an Obstacle Course Challenge Friday evening. The light/Western horse show will take over on Saturday. All winners of the 4-H competitions will have a parade of champions walk through the ring in the afternoon. Mixed in also will be demonstrations by the miniature horses. Later Saturday the Community Challenge Obstacle Course Run will be held. It will prove which community group can drive the best through the challenging course. The heavy horses will be exhibited on Sunday with a new feature of two demonstrations by Friesian horses. This will be a wonderful display all afternoon of horses.
At the side ring the 4-H dairy show will be held on Saturday. The sheep show will be also held near the pavilion. On Sunday the miniature horses will take over the ring and spend the day competing.
The midway will command the rest of the grounds near Fry Street. They are bringing in at least 10 rides for the pleasure of a wide variety of age ranges and also some games of chance. They assured everyone that their food booth would have candy floss.
Tickets are available for a day pass to the midway for $20 until Friday at noon. Rib Fest tickets, which include admission, are $20 or can be purchased at the gate. Music Fest passes can be purchased for $15 in advance or at the ticket table. Tickets can be purchased online from the website www.bayfieldfair.ca or by contacting a Director. Children under 12 get in the gates free, adults are $5 and they can get a weekend pass for $10.
Spend the weekend celebrating rural life by visiting the fair one day, or many days. After the fair there will be an evaluation of the fair on the website so it can only get stronger. Be part of the celebration; be part of the tradition; attend the Bayfield Fair.