After two years of significantly reduced programming, the Orillia Fall Fair is returning Sept. 10.
A demolition derby, children’s farm Olympics, 4-H cattle show, petting zoo, and baking, vegetable and flower competitions are among the wide variety of events slated for the fair at ODAS Park.
The gates will open at 10 a.m., and tickets cost $10 per adult and $5 for youth aged five to 13. Admission is free for children younger than five. Parking at the fairgrounds is free.
After being cancelled in 2020 and weathering reduced capacity limits and programming in 2021, the 172nd showing of the fall fair will mark a trend back to normalcy.
Last year, the event was limited to 5,000 people.
“Normally we are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and we would have about 10,000 over the weekend, so reducing it to 5,000 really packed people in on one day,” said Orillia and District Agricultural Society (ODAS) manager Erin Abbott. “Everyone was really happy to be out last year, back to sort of normal, and this year we are still just doing one day, but we don’t have capacity limits.”
While some offerings, such as the usual midway rides, are not returning due to widespread staffing and transportation issues, this year will mark the return of senior (adult) exhibits, including photography, crafts, baking and more.
“We’ve tried to open back up a lot of the things that we would normally have that we didn’t have last year,” said Abbott. “We didn’t have the senior competition last year, and no fair in 2020. They haven’t exhibited since 2019, so all the people that are used to putting in their exhibits at the fair are now back to doing that this year, so they’re pretty excited.”
The evening of Sept. 9, ODAS will also host its ambassador competition for both junior (12 to 16) and senior (17 and older) residents, in which local contestants are judged on character, poise, personality, charm and intelligence.
Abbott said a big part of the fall fair is getting people — whether young or old, urban or rural — to connect with the area’s agricultural roots.
“Our mandate is agricultural education, and we’re a good mix of rural and city in this area,” she said. “I think (for) a lot of the people who haven’t grown up on a farm or haven’t had the experience of being on a farm and being around animals, it’s interesting for them to come out and see everything that we have here with the animal shows and the education that they provide.”
Beyond Sept. 10, Abbott also mentioned the ODAS roller-skating rink recently had a new floor installed and will be hosting a grand reopening in the near future.
More information about the Orillia Fall Fair may be found here.
