Three New England Fairs, Three Different Records

Fall means fair season here in New England, and I got curious about which fair wins which title. Turns out there are three totally different champs, and one of them is right up the road from us.

The Oldest Fair in Massachusetts

Let's start with the oldest. That's the Topsfield Fair out on the North Shore. It started way back in 1818. Think about that for a second. That's before the Civil War. Before Massachusetts even had public schools. Before anyone had ever taken a photograph. This year it runs October 2 through 12, almost two full weeks, which is a lot longer than most fairs even try to pull off. Grand Funk Railroad, Chubby Checker, Ashley McBryde, and more are all slated to perform this year.

The Biggest Fair in Massachusetts

Then there's the biggest, and that one is easy. It's the Big E, right in West Springfield. Last year it drew over 1.6 million people, making it one of the five largest fairs in the entire country. It started small too. The very first one in 1916 brought in 45,000 people. A businessman named Joshua Brooks started it because farming in New England was struggling and he wanted to connect it to the industry that was booming at the time. From 45,000 to 1.6 million is a wild jump. The crowds are overwhelming, so I suggest going on a Monday!

The Most Tenacious Fair in Massachusetts

But my favorite of the three isn't the oldest or the biggest. It's the Cummington Fair, off of Rte. 9. It started in 1869 and it has barely missed a year since, except for one COVID cancellation. Back when it started, Cummington had 180 working farms. Now it has five. The fair is kind of the last piece of that old farming town still standing strong. Every August it pulls in about 25,000 people to a town where fewer than 900 people actually live. That traffic line heading to the fair is brutal, though!