The Durham Fair, held in

Durham, Connecticut Durham ( ) is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Durham is a former farming village on the Coginchaug River in central Connecticut. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut Ri ...

, is one of the largest

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

s in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and was first held in 1916. The four-day event takes place during the last full weekend of September. Activities include

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

and competitive exhibits, pulling contests, craft and commercial tents, various forms of entertainment and a carnival midway. The fairgrounds accommodate both permanent buildings for commercial and agricultural exhibits and space for tents and other non-permanent structures to be brought in each year. Past entertainers on the main stage have included

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

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George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

, SHeDAISY,

Bill Monroe William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its n ...

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

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KC and the Sunshine Band KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits " Get Down Tonight", " That's the Way (I Like It)", "⁠ (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", ...

. The Durham Fair is staffed entirely by volunteers; in fact, it is the second largest fair in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

without paid management or employees. In addition to the members of the Durham Agricultural Fair Association and other volunteers, local organizations such as schools, churches, clubs, civic groups, and more, participate in the fair to help raise funds for their organizations. There was no fair in 1917–18, 1942–45 & 2020.

Pulling contests

Pulling contests are events that involve the use of

oxen An ox (: oxen), also known as a bullock (in BrE, British, AusE, Australian, and IndE, Indian English), is a large bovine, trained and used as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castration, castrated adult male cattle, because castration i ...

draft horse A draft horse (US) or draught horse (UK), also known as dray horse, carthorse, work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred to be a working animal hauling freight and doing heavy agricultural tasks such as plowing. There are a number o ...

s and

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s to pull

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

weights to determine the best contestant in each event. They are well received as a show of strength between farmers who believe that their oxen, horses or tractors are the strongest in terms of pulling weight. Monetary awards provide additional motivation for all competitors.

Use of Durham Fairgrounds

The Durham Fairgrounds have been used for several other festivals including B.O.M.B. Fest 2010.http://www.bombfest.com In May 2012, the fairgrounds hosted the 1st annual Construction Pro RODEO featuring an EXPO, careers in construction day for high school kids and a skills competition.

References

External links

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Construction Pro RODEO
Durham, Connecticut Tourist attractions in Middlesex County, Connecticut Festivals in Connecticut {{tourism-stub