Small town fairs

[eternallyme]

Has anyone else noticed how popular they have become recently? The loss of the SuperEX at Lansdowne may have had something to do with it, but it seems that Ottawa was meant more for them. Notice how popular county fairs are as well in many US states.

The complete list within a 90 minute drive of Ottawa:

Almonte (July)
Arnprior (August - this weekend)
Avonmore (July)
Beachburg (July)
Blackburn Hamlet (June)
Carp (September)
Chesterville (July)
Delta (July)
Gloucester (May)
Lombardy (July/August)
Maxville (June)
Merrickville (August - this weekend)
Maberly (August)
Metcalfe (September)
Middleville (September)
Navan (August - this weekend)
Perth (August/September)
Renfrew (September)
Richmond (September)
Russell (September)
Shawville (September)
Spencer (September)
Stormont County (August/September)
Vankleek Hill (August)
Williamstown (August - this weekend)

Most are very old, but I wonder if there is some growth potential in that industry? Especially in some of the older parts of the region, perhaps even the original suburbs and older neighbourhoods.

[kwoldtimer]

Become popular recently??? Small town fairs have always been popular.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Become popular recently??? Small town fairs have always been popular.

More than any other time recently, at least in eastern Ontario/the Ottawa region. They say they are way up the last 3 years (per a news report last night).

[lrt's friend]

There are also rural fairs in Cobden (Aug 23 to 25), Riceville (Aug 23 to 25) and Rupert Quebec (near Wakefield in Sept)

[McC]

St Albert, Festival de la Curd, starting Wednesday; always good, but doubly needs support since the big fire.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by McC

St Albert, Festival de la Curd, starting Wednesday; always good, but doubly needs support since the big fire.

I never thought of the specialized festivals as being as popular (with a few exceptions) as the standard fairs. Interestingly, it isn't just rural people that love them, but also Ottawa residents as well. I've heard many stories of them driving 15 to 90 minutes out of town for them - and they can be the biggest base of support.

I think the SuperEX had a few problems:

1) Location. Not very convenient via car or transit - parking impossible and not on rapid transit lines.

2) Size. No real room for expansion and hemmed in by the canal.

3) Tenancy. They didn't own the land, they simply leased it from the City of Ottawa, who understandably felt there was better use for it.

Maybe a giant fair is not what Ottawa needs, but the suburbs (or even older in-town communities with open space) could organize and build their own rural-type fairs with their roots, such as agricultural shows, medium-sized concerts and demolition derbies, over specific weekends? They definitely need a lot more than just a midway though.

Some places at the edge of the Greenbelt would work if the NCC would agree, or just on the edge of development as well. The land would need to be protected as future development surrounds. Maybe the Experimental Farm as well? Although that is very close and would have noise issues.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

I never thought of the specialized festivals as being as popular (with a few exceptions) as the standard fairs..

In French-speaking Canada, for some reason fairs all tend to have a theme: Festival DU (INSERT THEME), instead of simply the name of the place: FESTIVAL DE (INSERT TOWN NAME).

The Festival de la Curd follows this logic, whereas the Navan Fair and Carp Fair follow what seems to be the anglophone tradition for these things.

In any event, often the theme of the festival is only a pretext, although there are usually nods to it in the programming. And the rest of the festival is basically the same type of festival or fair that you'd find anywhere else.

Another thing that is different is that because of the smallness of the francophone market, our festivals (even the smaller ones) tend to have more current entertainment on the main stage, as opposed to past-their-prime golden oldies types that most people would normally expect at these types of things.

[waterloowarrior]

For the urban areas I wonder if things like night markets will become more popular, at least in the summer. They are a lot of fun and there is a lot of great food involved.

Ottawa Chinese night market brings in large crowds, traditional cuisine

BY DRAKE FENTON, OTTAWA CITIZEN AUGUST 10, 2013

OTTAWA — Live music, barbecue squid on a stick and even smelly tofu were some of the attractions that brought thousands of people to the parking lot of a T&T Supermarket for Ottawa’s first-ever Chinese night market.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ot...473/story.html

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In French-speaking Canada, for some reason fairs all tend to have a theme: Festival DU (INSERT THEME), instead of simply the name of the place: FESTIVAL DE (INSERT TOWN NAME).

The Festival de la Curd follows this logic, whereas the Navan Fair and Carp Fair follow what seems to be the anglophone tradition for these things.

In any event, often the theme of the festival is only a pretext, although there are usually nods to it in the programming. And the rest of the festival is basically the same type of festival or fair that you'd find anywhere else.

Another thing that is different is that because of the smallness of the francophone market, our festivals (even the smaller ones) tend to have more current entertainment on the main stage, as opposed to past-their-prime golden oldies types that most people would normally expect at these types of things.

That probably explains why Shawville is the only place in Quebec on the initial list (which I compiled from a CTV News report). The Pontiac region feels more like the Ottawa Valley to some extent, which is more English-speaking.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

That probably explains why Shawville is the only place in Quebec on the initial list (which I compiled from a CTV News report). The Pontiac region feels more like the Ottawa Valley to some extent, which is more English-speaking.

It also explains the lack of any Prescott-Russell towns on the list, other than Russell & Vankleek Hill which are anglophone.