Burford Fair is “so much more than just the midway”

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It would cost about $80,000 to bring in the calibre of carnival rides that would rival Rockton World’s Fair or the Norfolk County Fair. It’s money the Burford Agricultural Society just doesn’t have.

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It operates on a “shoestring budget” from fundraising, Brant County grants, and donations from the community, society president Chris Howell said.

After its longtime midway provider retired from the business several years ago, the society has struggled to set itself apart from the nearby fairs that also run over Thanksgiving weekend.

But the event is “so much more than just the midway,” Howell told The Spectator. It’s “a celebration of farming, agriculture and rural life in Ontario.”

When the Burford Fair started in 1860, it was a way for the farming community to gather to celebrate the end of harvest and see “who could grow the biggest pumpkin, who (had) the best horse,” he said.

It’s that spirit the society wants to bring back.

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“Let’s celebrate the distinction of living in Brant County and highlight what people are doing” in a way that teaches tourists and locals alike about the science of agriculture, he said.

He envisions seminars on topics like equine-based education, or how to make a self-sustaining property — which could be of particular interest to folks who’ve migrated recently from larger cities and may have land they don’t know what to do with.

He wants to celebrate “the things that we can’t do in the city.”

This might look like a tractor pull, racing four-wheelers through an obstacle course, and chainsaw carving competitions, bringing the fair back to more of a friendly “neighbour versus neighbour” rivalry, rather than “just a place where parents come to drop their kids off.”

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There will still be lots to entertain kids though. Animal visits, agricultural science experiments, educational games and competitions — like build and race your own lawn mower — with cash prizes, he said.

To have a fair where someone can learn, make a connection, ask questions and then go home and implement what they’ve learned, “I think is incredibly beneficial in this day and age,” he said.

For more information about the Burford Fair, or upcoming fundraising events like the Father’s Day weekend fish fry or demolition derby, visit burfordfair.com.

Celeste Percy-Beauregard is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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