| Aug 17, 2016


The Parham Fair Board and volunteers are all set and raring to go for the 124th edition of the fair this weekend, August 19 & 20.

The fair, which starts up on Friday evening with the ever-popular horse pull, a midway, and a performance by the Old Habits on the main stage, is as much a celebration of family ties as it is a festival of rural life.

This year the fair will feature some new events that will appeal to children and youth, while maintaining the traditions of past years.

New events on Saturday include a children’s pedal tractor pull. At any time during the day children can step into a specially made pedal-powered tractor and pull weight on a sled, increasing the weight until they can no longer pull it. The pull will culminate with the finals, starting at 4:30pm.

Before that, at 4pm the first ever Power Wheels Derby will take place in the main ring. Carts fitted with balloons will be driven around, and into, one another. The last balloon that remains inflated is the winner.

This year's fair also brings back the greased pig contest, but this time the kids will be greased instead of the pig, and a few other rules have been changed as well.

The fair will welcome back Sasha Bergeron's Critter Corral, Lynn Cronk's oxens, sheep shearing by Joel Osler, spinning by Tracy Asselstine, Ferrier Jeff Atkinson and wagon rides, and that is all in the morning.

The afternoon features country fair games and a performance by Texas Tuxedo from 1 to 3 pm. In the early evening Parham's own rock stars, HD Supply will be playing the main stage from 7 until 9pm.

Fair goers will notice that the Sunday Demolition Derby is not happening this year. Fair Past President Wendy Parliament explained that the board decided to cancel the derby because there were not enough volunteers available to run it this year. Not only does the derby require an extra number of volunteers, it also meant that the fair went an extra day, pushing cleanup over to Monday.

“We have some new, younger volunteers working with us,” said Parliament, “which is a very good thing, but they are not available on Mondays because they are working.”

Parliament added that the board is considering holding a demolition derby in late July next year as a stand-alone event, in addition to the fair in late August. This would be a way of providing the event for the community without overtaxing its volunteers.

Tickets to the fair are $7 for 13 years & older; children under 12 are free. For further information, see the poster on page 12 or go to Parhamfair.ca

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