Newborn calves and sun-splashed grounds drew a crowd of more than 30,000 people from across New England to the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Show and Fair this weekend, making the 148th annual festival a triumph.
“Considering the weather and how hot and humid it was all weekend, everything went fine,” said hall manager Kathy Lobb. “Even [Saturday] night with the threat of bad weather, nobody went into a panic.”
Several chickens entered into the livestock competition of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair were stolen from their cages, shattering for many the old-fashioned sense of innocence of the event while prompting officials to consider increased security measures when the fair resumes next year.
It’s only just over a week before gates open on the 149th annual Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair on Thursday, August 19, but already it is time to sign up for jobs and prepare your entries for all categories — and time even to mark on your calendar earlier deadlines for next year’s extraordinary celebrations of the 150th fair.
Anna Sylvia tends to her draft horse Virgil every day at Sweetened Water barn in Edgartown. Whether after work at the SBS Grain store or after school during the winter, Anna takes at least an hour of her day to clean out Virgil’s stall, bathe and ride him. Yes, Anna rides her draft horse.
Tomorrow Vineyarders from all generations will walk into the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury, proudly carrying their artwork, home-grown vegetables, baked goods (the juniors anyway; adult bakers must wait for Thursday morning) and displays. The animals will begin to arrive in the next few days, and that heavenly smell of hay, fried food and the sweetness of August will mingle in the air on Thursday, as the 149th Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair begins.
As a four-piece horn band serenaded the crowd to the tune of America the Beautiful yesterday morning, kids hurried over to the booth to buy ride tickets, parents applied sunscreen and food vendors began to fire up the grills. With a clear blue sky backdrop, the 149th annual Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society fair opened for fun times and long-lasting memories.
Iron skillets sailed through the air, tractors pulled their hardest, knives shucked away at oysters and saws worked their way through logs this past weekend at the 149th annual Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair. And although the rides have headed to the ferry, the animals have all been returned to their barns and the artwork is off the walls of the great hall, the people who participated in all these events will be back for more next year.
The smell of hay and cotton candy, the lowing of cows, the dusty August air blowing through barn doors, ruffling your hair. The scratching of a horse against a stall, the whirring of the Ferris wheel.
Thousands of stitches hanging over the barn beams, the pride of dropping off an entry, no matter the age. Echoes of footsteps on the wide floorboards, wet grass tickling bare feet.
Every kid that grew up here has his or her own memories of the Agricultural Fair. From the oxen pull and skillet-throwing contest, to the rides and games, and, of course, the food, for four days in August the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair is the place to be.
