The Brooklyn Fair is an annual

agricultural fair An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhib ...

held in

Brooklyn, Connecticut Brooklyn is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The populat ...

, for the first time in 1809. It is considered the oldest agricultural fair in the United States. The fair is organized by the Windham County Agricultural Society

History

* In 1809, the first year of the fair, it was held on the site of what is currently known as the Vanilla Bean Cafe * In the following years, the event was hosted in rotation in

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and

Pomfret, Connecticut Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut with a population of 4,266 according to the 2020 United States Census. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. It was incorporated in 1713 and was named after Pontefract ...

* About 10 years after the first fair, in 1820, the ~100 founders incorporated in the Windham County Agricultural Society. * In the year 2000 the Society was recognized for its efforts by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in its "Bicentennial Local Legacies Project" as part of its 200th Anniversary celebration. * No fair was held in 1917–18 because of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 1942–45 because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, or 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Entertainment

References

Festivals established in the 19th century Recurring events established in 1809 Festivals in Connecticut Tourist attractions in Windham County, Connecticut 1809 establishments in Connecticut Agricultural shows in the United States {{Connecticut-stub