It would cost about $80,000 to bring in the calibre of carnival rides that would rival Rockton World’s Fair or the Norfolk County Fair. It’s money the Burford Agricultural Society just doesn’t have.
It operates on a “shoestring budget” from fundraising, Brant County grants, and donations from the community, society president Chris Howell said.
After its longtime midway provider retired from the business several years ago, the society has struggled to set itself apart from the nearby fairs that also run over Thanksgiving weekend.
But the event is “so much more than just the midway,” Howell told The Spectator. It’s “a celebration of farming, agriculture and rural life in Ontario.”
When the Burford Fair started in 1860, it was a way for the farming community to gather to celebrate the end of harvest and see “who could grow the biggest pumpkin, who (had) the best horse,” he said.
It’s that spirit the society wants to bring back.
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