The Vermilion fair takes pride in keeping theĀ tradition alive on theirĀ 112th birthday.
The celebration begins July 26th and will run until the 28th, the fairgrounds are located at 5510 College Drive. The fair will have a lot to check out including livestock shows, modified tractor pulls and pony chuckwagons.Ā Office Manager for the Vermilion AG Society Nicole Templeton says there is pride taken into keeping the tradition alive as the Vermilion fair is one of the oldest agricultural fairs in Canada.
“Everything that happens here is what would have happened at a traditional agriculturalĀ fair way back when. That really sets us apart because we are so old and so traditional.”
Every year the fair has themes that celebrate agriculturalĀ related events. Last year the theme celebrated a hundredĀ years of 4-h in Alberta. The themes are usually based on provincial and community events. This yearsĀ theme “Sew it! Grow it! ShowĀ it!” was decided by the AG Society committee.
30 committeesĀ are involved in theĀ fair with theirĀ own budget for theirĀ respective events. Templeton says the committeeĀ bring forth theirĀ ideas and the membersĀ of the AG society have the final say.
“Each committeeĀ is responsible for organizing and collecting the volunteers and running their event. Each committeeĀ would bring out the layout of their show or whatever theirĀ event is at a general meeting and it would be discussed and passed.”
Each committeeĀ has theirĀ own volunteers whichĀ have reached around 200 volunteers in the past which doesn’tĀ include volunteers from theĀ AG Society. Templeton says that they want families to gain some knowledge on agriculture with the event because it’s such a big part of the community.
” One of our driving factors is that we’re affordable. Everyone can come to the fair and every one can see what it is like to come to the traditional fair, see the events, learn about agriculture and walkway finding knowledge that way or finding an interest in agriculture.”