There are many things I don’t expect to find on a weekday afternoon while riding a bike trail in the countryside … and yet, it’s still possible to surprise me.
Fall fair season is gearing up, and over the next month communities big and small will be hosting their versions of a country fair. I think it’s safe to say they’re usually held on the weekend, perhaps starting on a Friday afternoon.
But I found one unexpectedly being held on a Wednesday. I took a wrong turn trying to find my way out of town, and there it was!
It was packed with people of all ages. Small-town-packed, not city-packed … there’s a world of difference between the two. I can only assume that the local schools and many local businesses were closed for the day.
It had all the requirements of a fall fair.
Judging of locally grown produce:
Animals
Crafts
A Play Area and Miniature Train
There will be more to come on the play area in a later post. It deserves its own story.
However, my favourite was inside the arena where a live band was pelting out the tunes while a small group do-si-do’d around the dance floor.
There was even a fall harvest dinner in the church basement later in the day … but I didn’t stick around for that. I still had over an hour’s drive to get back home.
I stuck out like a sore thumb while I roamed around the fair – in my bike shorts and sweaty helmet-hair – but I had the best time!
I may have to revise what I might expect to find in a small farming community on a weekday afternoon in September.
How exciting! I love stumbling upon hidden treasures. Our county fairs last the entire week, but they open in the late afternoon/evening on weeknights.
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That’s what I’m used to as well. Opening Friday evening, sometimes as early as Thursday evening and then all day on the weekends.
I found a list of fall fairs around the province online and was surprised to discover that mid-week fairs aren’t that unusual after all.
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These fairs are such interesting cultural experiences – did they have any 4H competitions? Love to see those kids proudly walking their groomed cow or sheep around for the judges – Barrie Fair still has that small town feel.
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I can’t say I saw any 4H presentations, but I certainly remember them from my youth.
I’ve never been to the Barrie fair. I just looked it up and discovered it was at the end of August. Guess I won’t be seeing it again this year
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It’s awesome what one can find on a bike…right? This looks like a great little festival, whether in bike shorts or denim shorts. Glad you happened upon this and thanks, Joanne, for sharing your photos of people, a beautiful horse and the garden veggies.
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I’m thinking that maybe in the future I should toss a skirt or something in with my bike gear for just-in-case. I would have felt considerably less conspicuous if I hadn’t been walking around with those bulky-bum bike shorts.
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I went to so many festivals this summer. They are always fun. Good to see you out and about. And now you are back in my reader. Yippie (and a middle-finger-salute to WordPress for throwing you out in the first place.
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WordPress did that to me with a couple of people too!! What gives?!
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This is why I’m not stressed if I’m lost. That’s when you find the coolest things or places.
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I need to embrace more of your attitude. I still get pretty stressed when I’m lost … and usually I don’t notice the cool stuff because I’m too distracted by the lost part
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Well, if I’m supposed to be somewhere by a certain time, then I will get a little stressed. Otherwise, it is what it is and getting lost is part of life.
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That’s true. As long as I’m not constrained by a clock, my “come-whatever” attitude is quite different 🙂
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What a delightful surprise. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thanks 🙂
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I love harvest fairs! Serendipity is always magical…
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Jan, I think you’re right about serendipity being magical. Too often we go into something with a level of expectation … like yesterday’s Ukrainian Festival … and it becomes a yawn-fest.
The unexpected however is fun just because it wasn’t expected 🙂
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Great finds, Joanne, and the unexpected ones are the best, I think. I hope your weekend is going as well. 😉
janet
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I don’t know about you, but I tend to overlay expectations on things I’m doing. Often I get disappointed because it can’t live up to what I expected.
That’s why these unexpected finds are so much fun 🙂
Hope your weekend is a happy one!
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That’s happened to me before too, Joanne. My weekend has been good so far. Church this morning and work this afternoon and evening. I hope yours has been good as well.
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It’s been a weekend full of smiles. Not so bad at all 🙂
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I really love the maple leaf handprint flags – what a great idea for little kids! 🙂
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That one really caught my attention. It was a different take on the theme and very personal for the child. I agree – a great idea!
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What a fun wrong turn you took, Joanne!
I just end up some place that either smells horrible, or looks like it would get me killed, or both! If I’m lucky the gas tank is not on empty. 😀
Happy weekend hugs!
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Ha! I know what you mean. I’ve ended up in some pretty unlikely places too. I knew this was going to be interesting because there were just so many people milling around.
Normally that’s the kind of thing I would run and hide from, but it’s a small town … so much easier to handle a small town’s version of a crowd compared to the big city!
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What a fun unexpected treat on a week day! I never thought there would be square dancing in Canada! Of course if I really think about it of course there would be all types of dancing, but I never thought about it before, so it was a delightful surprise to me this morning.
The Alpaca was beautiful. Loved that image.
I’m looking forward to seeing more!
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That silly alpaca gave me a hard time. He really made me work for that photo!!
I admit that the dancing was so much fun to watch. I stayed and took photos for quite a while before I felt like people were starting to stare at me 😉
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I haven’t been to a fall fair in donkeys years! They aren’t a “thing” where I grew up on Vancouver Island and I was amazed when my husband first took me to one in the Ottawa Valley where all manner of baking and cooking was being judged in addition to the assortment of farm animal-humans at work demonstrations. Such fun. We need to get out and do this more. Thanks for the nudge!
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I admit I hadn’t been to a fall fair in forever either. They all tend to be pretty much the same, but this one surprised me with the live music and dancing … definitely a fun twist on a Wednesday afternoon 🙂
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Lovely images – especially the alpaca chappy. The dancers look a little confused at first, I can see one or two people surreptitiously checking out other people’s foot work! Is a ‘do-si-do” a bit like line dancing?
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I used the term do-si-do rather liberally 🙂 Yes, there was mostly line dancing, with a bit of occasional polka, and even a dash of swing 🙂
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I have to admit that I’m not much of a fall festival type. As I looked at the oversized zucchini wining an award, I though ho hum, done that…remembering the year we grew so many zucchini, and everything we ate had zucchini in it. Even the neighbors started refusing them, so the zucchini sat on the ground growing bigger and bigger and stringer and stringer. How do I know…we baked it. Ugh! It took me thirty years before I could eat zucchini again.
Then I saw the llama and wondered if he spit in your face as you tried to capture his adorable face…llama spit is not a highlight either. And I have to say, the kids on the little train looked bored to tears.
But, by the time I got to the square dancing and the energetic elderly gentleman, I was all smiles. Do I square dance…heck no! But, in another lifetime I dated a guy who did and we’d go out dancing and I have to say square dance and line dance are pretty fun activities…I had a blast. Then later when I was teaching, after watching many videos…I taught my students to square dance as part of our fall curriculum…they seemed to like it too.
Then I thought of the fall festivals I grew up with in California. We had two big ones…they would attract people from miles away and may have run for multiple weekends, I can’t remember. One, I never attended but you could smell from miles away, was the garlic festival. Seems we weren’t too far away from the garlic capital of the world and they were famous for garlic ice cream. Now I like garlic but the idea of eating garlic ice cream just sounds nasty! Needless to say, it didn’t have the draw for me.
The other festival, and one of my favorites for two reasons which I describe in a minute, was the pumpkin festival. My daughter was born just before Halloween and from the first year, we started a tradition of making pumpkin stew…in the shell of the pumpkin…an award winning recipe that I found in the local paper. Halloween is all about pumpkins as well and it made celebrating a birthday, even more exciting. The second reason is that it was held in the coastal farming communities…nice, cool coastal air…a nice drive in the country along the way…and a respite from the Indian Summer. It was the first sign of real fall for us…yes, we’re late bloomers when it comes to fall…long hot summers and very little in the way of colorful foliage.
Thanks for reminding me of the pleasures that can be experienced in the fall.
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One of the things I love about blogging is how one person’s story/photos can trigger so many memories in other people. It seems that is exactly what just happened with you 🙂 You have so many – and each of them sounds like a story in itself!!
I did worry about getting spit in the face by the alpaca – but I guess he was better mannered than that. He was being a bit uncooperative with me – it seems he didn’t like having his photo taken 🙂
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😜
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A small-town crowd is so much nicer than a big-city crowd. I love your photos here – they ‘move’ – you can feel the people moving in their enjoyment of the day and the festivities. Good for you, being ‘you’ and wearing your biking attire. I don’t think you stuck out like a sore thumb. More like a willowy wavy reed in the midst of the marsh. 🙂
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HAHAHAHAHA!!! Me? Willowy? I wish!!! 😀
I’m going to carry that image with me all day!
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As well you should… xo
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What fun! I enjoy the small town festivals much more than the big city ones. Your photos do the event proud.
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Thank you 🙂 You just gave me the idea that perhaps I should try to forward some photos to the local paper if they have one. Perhaps they might be interested.
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That’s a great idea. You never know, they might be thrilled to have them.
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Those little country towns can throw a shindig! We have a lot of them in my area of Florida–I love them! Hey, Joanne–I think that guy was looking for a dance partner….. **wink wink**
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He had no shortage of willing partners 😉
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I LOVE Country Fairs! How fun to find one on a Wednesday! I can’t wait to read your upcoming post to go along with this one!
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I am now armed with a calendar of events for the rest of month. Hopefully I’ll get to visit at least one more 🙂
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Cool! Did you know The CheeseBergens played the Orange County Faur back in Kuky. There was no do si doing though. Go figure!
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HAHAHAHA!! I’m trying to picture some do-si-do’ing to the CheeseBergens!! It’s too bad, because it would be worth a story or two!
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I love these kinds of places. They often have unique food that you can’t get anywhere else.
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I didn’t check out any of the food places at all … although I was tempted. Instead I ate my leftover peanut butter sandwich in the car on the way home.
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Bummer! I like to check out the food even if I end up taking it home.
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This post reminds me of the start of C.S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The back of the ordinary wardrobe opens up onto a magical setting. You had your own afternoon of magic and that is just awesome, Joanne. Thanks for sharing it.
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I like the way you visualize things 🙂
It really was a little bit of magic in an ordinary day!
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I love an unexpected pleasure and it sounds like you stumbled onto a good one. We (Sassy and I) are loving the alpaca photo! 🙂
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Isn’t he just the cutest?!! … and a wee bit coy. He made me work for that photo!!
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Sassy luuuurves the alpacas. She popped right up and SMILED 🙂 I took some alpaca photos at the fair and they were NOT like yours. It was a great shot!
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thanks ❤
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I think sometimes that you are one of those people who finds fun wherever you go, Joanne. On a Wednesday even!
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Who would have thought there would be a party happening on a Wednesday afternoon?!! Just dumb luck that I fell into it 🙂
… on the other hand, maybe you have the right idea. It takes it certain frame of mind to stop and check it out because it might be interesting. I didn’t always think that way.
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What a wonderful find on a Wednesday! Glad you had fun wandering around.
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I know!! Who would guess that a community would let its hair down on a Wednesday afternoon?!! 🙂
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Sounds like a lot of fun! I hope you got in there and do-si-do’d with the best of them.
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Hehehe! THAT would have been a sight to see!! I’m so terribly uncoordinated. In my dreams I’m graceful and light on my feet, but in reality I clunk around on the dance floor like a drunk cow.
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What a great find… and on a Wednesday no less! We have a big annual summer fair here, but I think the small town ones are much nicer. It appears that your muse might be back? 🙂
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I’m hoping my muse is back. I had to write and publish this before my internal critic could poke holes in my post. I haven’t even looked at it yet to see what mistakes might be there that I didn’t catch.
It makes me ridiculously happy when I find something unexpected that makes me smile. A fall fair in a small town on a Wednesday afternoon fit the bill. You are so right when you say that it’s different in a small town. The ambiance is completely different. I live in a big city, but my heart is still small town 🙂
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Aren’t such discoveries fabulous. Even more so when they are completely unexpected. Years ago when we were cycling in rural Turkey we came across a local market. In our bright coloured Lycra we looked as foreign as giraffes and hippos wandering about. Yet the people welcomed us and did their best to communicate. I will say we did have a lot of eyes on us but the memory will forever stay with me.
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Oh Sue – you would know better than most that wandering around in Lycra almost anywhere will get you stared at 😉
Stumbling across these unexpected finds of ordinary life are simply the best and it makes me smile just thinking about it 🙂
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Love these little fairs & I suspect no one cared whether you were in your bike shorts or not. They seem to be an all inclusive bunch!
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So right, Lynn. People talked to me and were very friendly and welcoming. I love sliding back into small town life, if even for just a few hours.
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Where was the Wednesday Fall Fair? Looks lovely
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inquiring minds at this end, too!
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It was in a town called Sunderland – southwest of Lake Simcoe in the Scugog area (assuming you know where that is).
This part of the province is fairly unknown to me but gaining more attention because the Trans-Canada trail is nearby.
This is the part about hiking which Helen and I love the most – the discovery of these little communities we might not otherwise have any reason to visit.
I was traveling solo this day since Helen was still out-of-town, but I felt the need to get out on my bike.
I’m glad I did 🙂
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I do know the region somewhat – we used to bypass the 400 through the Lake Simcoe area on our way to Bancroft.
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I was curious as to whether there were other fairs mid-week and found a calendar of fall fairs in Ontario. I doubt it is complete for all communities, but I thought you might be interested.
https://www.ontariofairs.org/fairs/fairs-by-date
If you hurry, today appears to be the last day for the New Liskeard fall fair 🙂
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🙂 Thank you! According to the locals this is a banner year for the fair – usually it rains!
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There you have it! Now it’s a must-attend event!!
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Check out my reply to Maggie. It was in Sunderland near Lake Simcoe.
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I really like those small town fairs. One of our favorites is one we found by accident after getting lost. That was 35 years ago and we’ve been back about 20 times.
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That’s amazing! If you’ve been back 20 times in 35 years, it’s left a permanent impression on you! The things we find when we’re lost!
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Last time was 2 years ago. It’s a wonderful little fare. They have a garden-tractor pull for kids – it alone is worth the price of admission 🙂
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That does sound like it would be fun to watch 🙂
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What a great stop. A little bit of country is always good for the soul. 🙂
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So true 🙂
I’d be the first to admit that I’ve got very little country going on, but it was rocking 🙂
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Love this. I would so be on that dance floor!
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I wish I could dance!!! … but I can’t. It would have been supremely humiliating.
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I can’t either. But if I could wear boots like those two women, I’d give a shot. They look boss. – Marty
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Across the street from my office are tents and rides for the annual San Gennaro Festival. Not quite a county fair but you take what you can get. At the same time this weekend (who schedules these things?) is the Las Vegas Greek Food Festival held by a Greek Orthodox church not too far away.
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In Toronto, there is some kind of festival going on virtually every weekend throughout the summer and fall somewhere in the city. I admit I rarely (ok, never) go to any of them. There really is a world of difference between small town crowds and big city crowds. Big city crowds freak me out.
Sooo – are you taking in any local festivals this weekend?
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