Topsfield Fair

Topsfield Fair is a New England tradition that has been running annually since 1818, with an exception for a few years of interruption during the Civil War and WWII.

On Friday the 30th, at 1PM, it opened its gates for the 186th time, and I was there with my boys.

Opening Friday is a great time to go if you're ever visiting.

Too early in the day to speak of any crowds.

No lines or obstructions.

They didn't even charge us the $10 for parking.

Nice, because it cost $30 for the three of us to enter the fair.

Yikes!

We started out with our favorite part of the fair... the animals.

Some hairy sheep.

And some naked sheep.

We watched sheep being sheared both the old fashion way with sheers,

and with electric clipper shears.

Here's a cow with cute curly bangs.

Or, is it a toupee?

An alpaca with a cute nose.

A beautiful draft horse enjoying some green grass

outside the Fruit and Vegetable Exhibit.

The horse looks so muscular and strong,

and I like their hairy hooves.

My son said it looks like they have boots on.

Yeah, maybe, like those furry boots people have in the Alps.

Moving on...

To the inside of the Fruit and Vegetable Exhibit.

Above is the "Best Home Garden Display".

Wowsers!

Those are some large pumpkins!

Very nice "Ribbon Worthy" produce.

But, what's in the bucket?

That's not sage, is it?

Moving on to flowers.

My favorite part of the Flower Exhibit was the Dahlia displays.

Below is one of several.

The blue glass bottles looked especially nice with the orange toned Dahlias.

Nice to see the wide range of size, petals, and colors displayed like this.

The boys and I also spent a little bit of time in the

Beekeeping house.

Look at the range of color in the honey jars!

From light, almost citrusy yellow colored honey,

to a very dark, amber color.

I wish I could have sampled them.

My son got to make his own beeswax candle (for a $1).

And if you'd rather buy them, you could have done that too.

Here is the duck race.

Volunteers from the crowd get to race mallard ducks.

Kind of fun, but over before you know it.

Besides, they were from New Mexico where duck racing,

according to the announcer, is very common.

I guess there was a pig race too,

but we missed that one.

Hand carved Welcome signs, anyone?

Or how about a cowboy hat?

With a pair of cowboy boots?

Not particularly New England:ish, more Texan, I'd say.

Here's a part of the fair that we covered quickly, the carnival.

It was actually a bit of a turn off walking through this part.

The workers at the attractions don't spare any tricks to lure your children in.

I was close to picking a fight (well, perhaps more of an argument)

with a worker

about their sneaky methods at the balloon and dart stand.

But, I figured it wasn't worth it, and we left.

The boys did try a couple of the games.

But the games are over quickly, cost a lot,

and the prices are so tacky,

that they soon wanted to leave this area.

There's no mistaking that food is a big part of any fair or carnival.

Topsfield is no exception.

All kinds of food options line the paths to every exhibit,

and the smell of fried foods lie like a heavy blanket across the fair ground.

Okay while you're hungry, but then it becomes almost nauseating.

Although dogs are prohibited from entering the fair,

there was some fun and fancy food to purchase and bring home to your pooch.

Does a dog really care though, what the food looks like?

I think this dog food mostly entertain the owner.

I seriously don't know how these bmx guys fit in to the agricultural theme.

But,

they were AWESOME!!!

We really enjoyed their performance.

Their tricks were high flying and fantastic.

I don't think I was the only mom

that gasped and held my breath a few times.

Last,

but NOT least...

The Big Pumpkin Weigh Off

This, my friends, this...

is what I came for.

This trip wouldn't have been complete

If I hadn't gotten to see these fantastic, giant pumpkins.

This year's winning pumpkin, announced last night, weighed 1,668.5 lbs,

and was grown by Mr. DeNigris and Mr. Moore of Gloucester.

Congratulations to the two of you!

All in all, a fairly fun visit.

But, I think, to enjoy it more next time, I need to let go of my romanticized images of what an agricultural fair should be like. In my mind I see an agricultural fair the way it might have been about 50 years ago. Less commercialized, more genuine, and more... agricultural.