FRYEBURG — An estimated 300,000 people are expected to go through the gates at Fryeburg Fair next week.
The Blue Ribbon Classic opens Sunday, Sept. 28, for eight days.
“We’ve been spending a lot of time and energy on technology,” President Roy Andrews said Thursday morning while maneuvering a large tractor-trailer onto the fairgrounds on Route 5.
A total of 130 transformers have been upgraded to bring more power to the sprawling, 180-acre complex.
“We had old equipment. In some parts of the world they still use (2,400-volt transformers), but not here,” he said. “If we had a meltdown, we could now get some help from CMP.”
Improved technology provides video security to monitor the gates and activities on grounds, which has 100 permanent buildings and more than 3,000 camping sites. People will also be able to swipe their credit cards for many of the hundreds of vendors. Campers and others will be able use Wi-Fi.
The fair opens at 8 a.m. Sunday with a church service followed by the popular 4-H horse riding show, firemen’s muster, sheepdog trials, poultry show, fleece and fiber show and pig scramble.
“We’re going to have a big fair, many departments and more livestock than we know what to do with,” Andrews said.
According to fair organizers, there will be nonstop livestock, agriculture and farming exhibitions, including more than 3,000 head of cattle, horses, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, rabbits and oxen.
There will be the Saco Valley Woodsmen’s Field Day, horse and ox pulling, draft horse tandem hitches, pig scrambles, calf scrambles, cooking contests, flower shows and exhibits of crafts, handiwork, photos, art, forest and wood products.
There is a full museum of old farm equipment and memorabilia with live demonstrations, the Little Red Schoolhouse built in 1835, the milking parlor, tractor pulling, four-wheel-drive pulls and pari-mutuel harness racing on a half-mile track.
The Specialty Foods Pavillion offers innovative products made with local ingredients. The new Expo Center features 9,000 square feet of commercial exhibits.
Night shows begin at 8 p.m. at the grandstand and feature Denny Breau on Monday, Love & Theft on Tuesday, Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra on Wednesday, The Swon Brothers on Thursday, Leah Turner on Friday and Michael DelGuidice & Big Shot on Saturday.
Harness racing begins at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
The annual fireworks show is at 9 p.m. Friday.
On Saturday, the Grand Parade steps off at 10 a.m.
General admission is $10 daily and includes the 8 p.m. shows. Children under 12 are admitted free.
Tuesday is Senior Citizens Day, when those 65 and older are admitted free.
The West Oxford Agricultural Society is made up of the towns of Fryeburg, Lovell, Stow, Waterford, Stoneham, Hiram, Sweden, Porter, Bridgton, Otisfield, Cornish, Baldwin, Standish, Harrison, Denmark and Brownfield in Maine, and Freedom, Eaton, Bartlett, Chatham, Conway and Jackson in New Hampshire.
ldixon@sunjournal.com
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- Cindy Kilgore of Jay, who works for the Maine Department of Agriculture, shows off her prize-winning oxen. She is one of many exhibitors at the Fryeburg Fair.
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