This was the 179th version of the Vankleek Hill Agricultural Fair, which makes it one of the oldest of the more than 212 Fairs [link] in Ontario. It’s definitely the oldest Event in this region. Vankleek Hill itself is 226-years old, so I have no idea what people did for fun during the first 47-years.

The Review [link] called and asked me to take photos of the ‘Farm Stock & Antique Tractor Pull’ on the Sunday, so I can’t publish those shots for another two weeks — they’re really awesome, but I did get a weekend pass as part of the deal. So I took the kids on the Friday and went back on the Saturday to get shots of the Midway while the kids’ mother took them to the Demolition.

I was lucky with regards to crowds… Friday afternoon Fair crowds are mostly made up of a non-working parent with their young-ish kids, and the elderly-ish looking at the quilt exhibits, so the ride lines weren’t so long. It had rained the day before, and in the morning, and that left the Fair Grounds a muddy mess. So both Victor and Quintin ruined their shoes, which required a quick $100 trip to Walmart.

…the Saturday night Midway crowd was the largest I can remember seeing. It was nuts, people were parking a mile away from the Fair Grounds — mostly for the Demolition Derby, but the lines for the rides were 25-50 yards long… and, for some reason, most of the kids were wearing “I Love Hot Dads” or “I Love Hot Moms” shirts. I looked, but couldn’t find a vendor selling them at the Fair so this might be a VKH thing / fetish.

I always enjoy shooting this event, with the colours and the lights, it’s easy to find something to take a photo of… so, click on a photo to get the carousel going. Or not. No pressure.