Labor Day weekend was chock-full of fairs and festivals across western Massachusetts — including one of the country's oldest returning to Northampton.
Thousands of visitors flocked to the Three County Fair over the weekend through its final day Monday. Crowds filled the Midway and carnival rides, a whole separate avenue devoted to food stands and, of course, the demolition derbies at the former Northampton Fair race track.
Taylor Haas, executive director of the Three County Fair, tells WAMC the fair has run non-stop for some 207 years, making it the longest-running, continuous agricultural fair in the United States.
“Our fair started in 1818 - it was strictly agriculture,” she said. “Through World War II, the Civil War - we were able to keep things running. It was never about the rides and the food … essentially, it was about a common ground for agriculture in the area to come together each year. We are the Hampshire, Franklin & Hampden Agricultural Society, so it's a big part of our spirit here.”
Throughout the fairgrounds, that agricultural heritage could be found in spades. That included exhibits devoted to farming, including actual spades, as well as 4-H booths, a restored tractor showcase and more.
The real prize-winners, though, were the livestock.
Cows, horses, and various working animals filled part of the fairgrounds for competitions and more. Some were there to give the public a glimpse of life on the farm, or just a chance to see some cute animals like Bingo the mini horse or a couple dozen baby chicks.
Standing by a flock of sheep were Amanda and Caitlin Willard. The sisters with River Front Farm collected a number of ribbons at the fair and say raising the sheep has been rewarding for a number of reasons.
“Really, it's learning,” Amanda told WAMC. “You never really stop learning with these guys - you learn how each individual animal works and how to show them their best, but just raising them - you can see over there, there’s people petting them - we’ve made them really friendly and some days, you have a rough day and you can go sit in the barn and you feel better.”
“I think it's just amazing how well livestock teaches us humans how to enjoy life, but also like have livestock to go along with it,” Caitlin added.
But while the halls devoted to farming and animal life had plenty of spectators, well over a thousand crowded the nearby grandstands for one of the fair’s most popular attractions – the demolition derbies.
According to Haas, it was a sellout as thousands of people took in school bus after school bus careening into one another.
One event featured about 20 cars and trucks, decked out in wild paint jobs and missing parts, lining up for a demolition race. John Marcyoniak was riding in a green and blue Toyota Tacoma that’s seen better days.
“Well, they adjusted how many laps it was, so I'd be saying stay outside, stay out of those crash zones, and kind of hope for the best,” he shouted to WAMC from the truck, waiting in queue to get onto the track.
Marcyoniak ended up doing just that for the first few laps. He had a good pace going before wipe outs left half of the vehicles disabled.
With his front wheels busted, the Tacoma pilot was able to throw it in reverse and leave the track on his own terms – a spectacle in and of itself.
Justin Enriquez was taking it all in with his family. Speaking with WAMC, he said whether it’s the livestock or the motorsports, the fair stands out from other offerings in the region.
“All of the animals and stuff like that, too - you don't really see the prize animals at a lot of the other fairs,” he said. “You get a lot of the different demolitions and the shows that are going on as opposed to just a lot of the stands that you have and things going on so the Big E is great, but you don't see demolition out there.”
Sitting on his shoulders was 6-year-old Emma Cartwright.
“All of it,” she said, when asked what her favorite part of the fair had been.
