The view from the window of the Agricultural Hall this week revealed a calm before the storm: an empty field of green grass, a red-painted burger booth with no customers yet and a few paper signs directing fair entry drop-offs.
But next week, beginning Thursday August 13, this bucolic scene will be transformed by crowds of people, animals and amusement park rides as the 164th Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair begins.
Chilmark police sergeant Garrison Vieira, who is chair of the fair committee and the booth manager, has been part of the fair since he was 12 years old. Mr. Vieira said this year’s preparations are already well on their way.
“The storm is already happening,” he said.
The 2026 Agricultural Fair runs from Thursday, August 13 through Sunday, August 16, taking place a week earlier this summer due to a late-August conflict with the carnival provider, Fiesta Shows, which took over last summer. This is the second year of a five-year contract with the New Hampshire-based company.
Lauren Lynch, the executive director of the Agricultural Society, said she hopes the earlier date will allow local college students to participate in the festivities before leaving for school.
Ms. Lynch said she enjoys how the fair, and the Agricultural Society in general, brings out the whole Island community.
“People feel very strongly about everything here because, between building the barn and volunteering to work at the fair, it is part of so many people,” Ms. Lynch said.
This year, the Ferris wheel will be returning, taking up its traditional position in front of the hall alongside the merry-go ‘round. Last year, after switching ride providers, the ride was already booked at another engagement.
“Seeing those two in front of the building is pretty iconic,” Mr. Vieira said.
A variety of carnival favorites will accompany them, including the Zipper, Cliffhanger, Twister, Zero Gravity, Pharoah’s Fury, Top Gun, Seven Seas and family rides such as Pirate’s Revenge, Saddle Up, Shockwave, Vortex, Magic Maze and the giant slide.
Inside the Agricultural Hall, fairgoers can expect the usual diverse display of art, quilts, photography, produce, flowers and baked goods. Seeing the hall filled with Islanders’ entries is Ms. Lynch’s favorite part of the fair.
“I am so proud to see the talent of the people in this community when I walk through this place,” she said. “It’s so amazing that people take all year to make these projects or grow these things and they look forward to putting them in the fair.”
For Mr. Vieira, the significance of the Ag Fair can be summed up with one word: tradition.
“For the longest time growing up here, the fair was a symbol of the end of the summer,” he said. “It’s the last hurrah of Island people running into each other before the dead of winter.”
All across the fairgrounds are meaningful family memories. Ms. Lynch said that one summer she spoke with a family volunteering at a ticket booth, and the daughter was getting ready to leave for college.
“I’m like, ‘Oh this is so exciting, when are you leaving?’” Ms. Lynch recalled. “She’s like, ‘tomorrow.’”
Caught off guard, Ms. Lynch asked the family why they were spending their last day together working at the fair.
“We wouldn’t have it any other way,” she remembered the family members responding.
After over 30 years of helping with the fair, Mr. Vieira has forged his own family traditions during the annual weekend of rides, food and farm animals. When his first daughter was born, he and his wife thought it fitting that she embrace the family legacy right away.
“Two weeks later, she’s here at the fair,” he said.
Preparing for the four-day event is grueling work, Mr. Vieira admitted, but also deeply rewarding. He feels most proud in the moments when fairgoers see his staff T-shirt, and stop to thank him and the team for their efforts.
Pulling off one of the most beloved and anticipated events of the summer also fosters a powerful sense of camaraderie among the planning committee, Mr. Vieira added. One of his favorite parts of fair preparation is the Wednesday night dinner the team shares before opening weekend — a last period of calm, then off to the races they go.
“We all come together and just make it happen,” he said.
Though the people taking the lead roles in managing the fair have changed over the years, many former officials still come back to help out. Eleanor Neubert served as fair manager for nearly four decades, but even after retiring from the position, she returns each August to the fairgrounds to lend a hand. It’s a mission she continues to appreciate.
“I’m happy to see that they have continued on, not changing much,” Ms. Neubert said. “They’ve tried to keep it an old-fashioned country fair as much as possible.”
The 164th Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair takes place from Thursday, August 13 through Sunday, August 16. For more information and a full list of events, visit marthasvineyardagriculturalsociety.org.
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