162nd Orangeville Fall Fair coming Labour Day weekend

August 4, 2016 · 0 Comments

While the end of summer is rarely something we celebrate, there is one great thing that comes with the season’s end that does bring excitement every year – the Fall Fair.

Orangeville’s Fall Fair has been a local tradition for 162 years, meaning the fair has been running here since before Canada officially became a country.

Much like the agricultural society that has run the fair for the last century and a half, the fair has undergone multiple evolutions as Orangeville has grown and expanded. The annual community event was originally held in the location now housing Walmart and the Rio Can shopping grounds, once home to a race track, drive-in theatre and the Orangeville Fair Grounds.

It’s been nearly 20 years since the Orangeville Agricultural Society (OAS) opened their facility at the new location, which has become home to many events, including the fall fair.

“Agricultural Societies are creations of the Ministry of Agriculture, given an overall objective in the mid-19th century to promote agriculture,” said Gordon Gallaugher, Vice-President of the OAS. “There have been several evolutions of what we do since then, but they are all non-profit, and all run by volunteers.”

He explained that the easiest way to explain the functionality of the Agricultural Society is that it is very similar to a service club.

“We rely on 80-plus paid memberships, and from that group we elect a bard of directors and working committees,” he said. “The biggest part of that is planning and hosting the fair every year. But it’s only a piece of what we do here now.”

The OAS Event Centre is host to multiple events annually, including horse shows, rodeos, banquet events, musical events, and more. The popular RCMP Musical Ride is there Friday, August 26. Tickets and information: youthdaleridingprogram.com/rcmp

One of the biggest challenges to hosting the events throughout the year, as well as the fair, is an aging membership.

“This is true of all service clubs right now,” said Mr. Gallaugher. “There is a change in demographics, and for us specifically, there are less people directly involved in agriculture. While all of our members have a connection to agriculture, often they are a generation or two removed.”

Fair1 Despite their challenges, the OAS Centre finds a strong client base, with some weekends throughout the Spring, Summer and Fall being booked for multiple events within their facilities. When the quarter-horse shows are held there, the entire 75,000 square foot facility is used for the one event.

“The quarter horse show brings in people from all over, including from across the border,” explained Mr. Gallaugher. “It’s not well-known to the community, but these events have a significant economical impact. Excluding the fair and the Home Show, we see 50,000 people through here in one year.”

He added that the Ministry of Tourism has an economical impact calculator organizations can make use of, and by using that tool, they were able to determine there is an annual impact of $6 to $7 million in dollars spent in the community because of these events.

“Sometimes it’s not as evident because a significant number of the participants travel and stay in trailers, but when we are cleaning up after the shows there are millions of pizza boxes, Tim’s cups, and Walmart boxes,” he said. “So they are definitely spending money in town.”

While that is definite good news for the OAS, the cost to run the facility (even with a skeleton staff and volunteer members) can be quite high. Along with keeping the 75,000 square feet of covered space clean and ready for rentals, the hydro must be maintained for groups.

“Our hydro bills range between $5000-$10000 a month,” said Mr. Gallaugher. “As a 20 year old building, it’s also starting to require repairs and a fresh coat of paint. It’s definitely a costly endeavour.”

It’s because of the renters and annual events that the OAS is able to maintain its event centre, and in turn, helps them to continue to provide the Orangeville Fall Fair.

In recent years, there have been many changes with the Fall Fair, as the OAS works to find the best entertainment, value, and events for local residents each year. As the world changes, so do the demands of what people look for in an event like this – and, what’s affordable.

“We’ve been changing up our schedules and events the last couple of years to try and provide more entertainment value,” explained Mr. Gallaugher. “The Demolition Derby has always been a favourite, and has always run on a Sunday, but this year we are having two derbies, one Saturday and one Sunday.”

Both derbies will be held in the evenings, with Saturday acting as the preliminaries, and Sunday as the finals. Another change with the Demolition Derby comes in the form of the event’s management, as the OAS has switched gears to help localize it further.

“We used to use an outside management group to run this specific event, but we wanted to see it supported locally,” said Mr. Gallaugher. “This year, we are using a local group from Grand Valley, and we are anticipating it will help generate more local participants as well as more local viewers.”

Another change to this year’s event line-up is the Truck and Tractor Pull. While in the past, the pull has been held Saturday afternoon, it has been switched this year to Friday night.

“There were other fairs who held their Truck and Tractor Pulls on the same Saturday afternoon, so a lot of our contestants and potential contestants were split between multiple events,” said Mr. Gallaugher. “We are hoping it will create more of a draw to our event by hosting it on Friday night, and it will give the crowds more of a reason to be there for the event.”

As in the past, there will be a variety of equine events spread out over the three-day fair, including a western show, draft horses, and miniatures. Inside the OAS Event Centre, attendees can also watch the various livestock competitions such as Holstein Cows, and goats, with participants from local farms and 4H Clubs.

“Trucks, tractors, horses, music; almost everything at the fair has some kind of connection to agriculture and life for those in the industry,” added Mr. Gallaugher. “The fairs are about fun, but it’s still fun surrounding the mandate of the organizations.”

Other events included in this year’s fair will be the annual Craft Show/Competition, live music from Dufferin County Line after 5pm each night, prior to and following the Demolition Derbies, a food court, family entertainment (including live martial arts and dance demonstrations), a Classic Car Show on Saturday, an exotic animal show, lawn/garden tractor competition, and a children’s tractor pull.

“We’re really trying to get more of a local focus with the fair this year,” said Mr. Gallaugher. “A local group running the derby, a local band, encouraging local competitors. This is our fair, and we want it to reflect that.”

Of course, the fair will also feature one of the most important staples of the event, the midway.

This year, the cost of admission is $10 for adults, $5 for youth aged 13-18, $2 for kids aged 6-12, and free for children 5 and under. Friday afternoon is toonie day on the midway.

The OAS will also be providing a shuttle bus for people to get to and from the fair this year. The fair will be held Labour Day weekend (September 2-4).

To download the entry form or prize-book for the craft competitions, or to find out more details about this year’s fair events, visit www.oaseventcentre.ca.