By Sheila Phibbs
The Haldimand Press
After one of the highlights of the fall season was missing last year, the volunteers at the Caledonia Fair are looking forward to welcoming visitors through the gates in 2021 to celebrate a “Community Harvest”.
This year’s theme – Community Harvest – was chosen by the Homecraft Committee. Homecraft President Renee Hedley says, “What better place to bring community together than at the fair? Harvest is a time when you reap what you sow, the season for the gathering of crops…. The fair is a form of a festival where we showcase the bounty grown in Haldimand in many different forms.”
Community Harvest will be reflected throughout the fair, which runs from September 30 to October 3, 2021. Each department will focus on the theme in various ways, ranging from specific categories of competition to information boards, photos, and stories that share what the harvest means to Haldimand.
Ian Thompson, Fair Manager, considers this year’s theme especially meaningful after the pandemic caused the cancellation of Ontario Fairs in 2020. He says, “It is so important for us to emphasize community. Harvest time ties into our agricultural roots and is a natural way to bring people together.”
He continues, “We’re very excited to welcome everyone back to the fairgrounds – safely of course. This year’s fair will be as normal as possible, while ensuring we are providing a safe place for the community to gather.”
That normal will include many of the traditional events like agricultural shows, competitions, and demonstrations, the Homecraft and Junior Fair exhibits, entertainment, demolition derbies, rides, games, shopping, and, of course, delicious fair food!
Food is the focus of a new event – From Seed to Stock Pot – that takes place a week before the fair. Fair volunteer Jodie Easson explains, “Vegetable seeds were distributed at Riverside Scoops during the planting season. Haldimand gardeners were invited to remember the fair at the time of their harvest.”
On September 18, volunteers will be accepting donations of surplus produce from local gardeners. The donations will be used to create a Community Harvest Soup that will be served as a take-out meal on September 26. Proceeds will support the food bank.
The special soup night is just one of the ways that Community Harvest will come to life at the fair this year. Displays and entries of fruits and vegetables, field crops, preserves, baking, flowers and plants, photography, arts and crafts, and more will be featured in the Riverside Exhibition Centre. The Caledonia Fair is rooted in 149 years of community tradition, which is reflected in the work of the volunteers. It is a time to come together, engage with our agricultural heritage, and celebrate the best of what the county has to offer. Hedley states, “With all of the new families moving into Haldimand, the fair wants to welcome them to our community. What better way than welcoming them to our ‘Community Harvest’!”
The Caledonia Fair will have a safety plan in place in compliance with all Provincial and Public Health guidelines and regulations.
