It’s the 127th running of the Powassan Fall Fair this Labour Day weekend.
The fair was first held in 1895 and technically this would be the 129th annual fair, but COVID sidelined the event for two straight years.
The Powassan Agricultural Society organizes the fair, which gives people a notion of what farming is like with demonstrations of horse pulls and competitions involving food and animal exhibitions.
See: Powassan Fall Fair is back this Labour Day Weekend
Jim Hilton, past president of the Powassan Agricultural Society, said the fair always boasts traditional events, but noted that as time marches forward, there is a need to change things up and include attractions that don’t have an agricultural angle.
Cue the demolition derby which Hilton said was introduced to the fall fair about 20 years ago and has become a crowd favourite.
Hilton said the crash derby, which takes place on Sunday at 1 p.m., sees up to 1,000 spectators watch on as drivers try to become “the last car standing.”
Hilton expects about 24 demolition drivers to compete in the four and six-cylinder categories, in addition to a category for minivans.
Hilton notes it’s not a cheap event for the participants.
“They hunt around for old cars to enter, and after buying them they work on the vehicles before entering them in the crash derby,” Hilton said.
“They might spend $500 to get a car and put another $500 into it. The cars that don’t end up in the scrapyard after the derby will get used again in another derby. You recognize them because they’ve been bent back into shape.”
Hilton said some drivers can salvage parts from a demolition derby car before scrapping it and those saved parts are added to their next smash-up vehicle.
The agricultural society puts up $1,500 for the demolition derby, to be used towards cash prizes, and the prize packages are further enhanced by the $50 fee each driver pays to enter the event.
Saturday’s main draw is the traditional horse pull at 1 p.m., which sees teams of horses pull cement blocks laid out on a steel sled with a flat bottom.
The horses pull the sleds over a certain distance and more cement blocks are added with each new pull.
Horses start getting knocked out of the competition when the weight of the blocks is too great for them to pull a reasonable length.
The teams left over are declared the winners.
Hilton said horses in this event have been known to pull 8,000 to 10,000 pounds and this gives the public a sense of how these farm animals performed before the arrival of motorized farm vehicles that later did the heavy pulling.
Monika Gibbings, president of the agricultural society, said last year the fair organizers introduced the new event of rock wall climbing.
The event was a huge hit, attracting numerous young people, and the organizers have brought it back for a second year.
New this year out of Barrie is Professor Kurio’s Travelling Oddity and Antique Museum, which according to the company’s website, is a recreation of circus sideshow attractions from the early 1900s.
This event runs both days of the fair and there is a $5 admission. However, Gibbings said from 10 a.m. to noon on both days admission is free with the agricultural society picking up the entrance cost. The $5 admission kicks in at noon.
Gibbings said the fall fair includes traditional judged events that involve baked goods, farm-grown vegetables, flowers, and quilts.
She added similar competitions include young people taking part in baking, crafts, and drawing contests.
Other events include a scavenger hunt and penny sale both days and Royal Canadian Legion Branch 453 has a beer tent throughout the weekend.
The fair also features local musicians performing both days, plus there are food vendors on site.
Admission to the fair on Saturday is $10 and it’s $15 to see Sunday’s attractions, while children under 13 are admitted free.
Both Gibbings and Hilton said the admission fee allows the local society to add infrastructure to the fairgrounds.
For example, with the demolition derby attracting more people resulting in increased revenue, that extra money was used to buy additional bleachers for the public.
It’s a small group that organizes the fair and Gibbings said the society could use a few more volunteers this weekend.
Anyone interested in helping out can reach Gibbings at 705-498-9157.
All the events take place on the Powassan fairgrounds at 55 Fairview Lane.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Almaguin News. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
