But as we all know, when I'm cranky and disgruntled, I try to lift myself out of it. Perfect timing for a "What I'm Loving Wednesday" post. Today, I'm going to list what I love about the Shawville Fair!
First of all, I love that the Fair is this weekend. I was dreading it the teensiest bit over the past few weeks because it generally marks the end of the summer, but now that it's almost here, I'm excited. Bring on the FAIR! :)
I'll cut right to the chase and get to my absolute favourite part. I love the Fair most of all for the FOOD. There have been fairs in the past where I have tried to behave, and even given myself challenges like "I'm going to attempt to not eat ANY fair food this year". But this is not one of those years. I'm all in for the fair food this year. (detailed post about Fair delicacies coming tomorrow, probably).
I love the entertainment! Nothing beats a beautiful late-summer evening, standing outside the beer tent, watching some pretty awesome live music. Friday night is Kim Mitchell, Saturday night is Brett Kissel, and Sunday night is Gord Bamford. I admit, I'm not up on Brett Kissel or Gord Bamford's music - which I guess means I'm most excited for Kim Mitchell (but I'm also not a huge fan of his either). Still, Fair acts rarely disappoint, and I've often discovered new favourites there in years past (hello, Chad Brownlee) - so I'm still looking forward to it.
I also love being an old lady at the Fair. Yes, times have changed... I now spend less time on "the big white ride" (aka beer tent), and more time browsing the craft halls and exhibits. I'm not sure when exactly that happened, but I now really enjoy checking to see who won ribbons for the best pie pastry, spotting the artwork of my friends' kids, and checking out who has the biggest pumpkin (Go, LINDSAY/RYAN/SAM, Go!)
I love that we still have "the spot". Back in our teen years, my group of friends and I established "the spot", right between the beer tent and the 4H food booth, and it's where we go to find one another. Of course, times have changed - most of them have kids now, and they spend more time in the midway that near the beer tent. Sometimes I drift through "the spot" and see nobody there. But generally, in the evenings, there's still bound to be a few of us gathered there to listen to the music and have a few drinks.
As I said, most of my friends have kids now, and it's so much fun see how excited the next generation is about the Fair! They can't wait for it! Some of them enter artwork and projects in the craft hall, and I always love checking out to see if they won. It's also a blast to see them waving and smiling from rides in the Midway. Fair time was one of my favourite times of the year when I was a kid, and I love that the enthusiasm is still going strong with the kiddos.
And, well... really, I just love the people. Seeing friends, old familiar faces, family members, just people-watching in general. You're bound to run into someone you know and have a chat. Oftentimes, it's a pleasant surprise, someone you weren't expecting to see. I love finding a spot and just standing back, watching and waiting. It's like a high school reunion that we get to have each and every Labour Day weekend!
Last but not least, the best part about the Fair? It's a long weekend. An extra day. I haven't been up to the Demolition Derby in a few years, I usually take the day just to putter around home and relax after the busy weekend, but who knows. I might head up on Monday this year just to get one last Fair snack! ;) We'll see!!
Well, my head is still pounding, but at least now I'm thinking about something else... C'moooon Fair Weekend!!! One more day!!!
3 comments:
Well...this post makes me sad. I liked the fair pre-baby days...actually no, I liked it when the kids were babies and you could just cart them in the stroller and still hang out with friends...and everyone could put coats and stuff in the strollers.
Now...last year I took Maddy to the Fair on the Saturday to see Brea Lawrenson and this year, I have literally JUST decided that I will take the kids on Friday. My problem is, Maddy is too big for the kiddie rides and unless she brings a friend, I won't let her go on big rides by herself (and I won't go on them). So...that is the dilemma, but maybe bringing her brother, she can take him on the younger rides and she may still be able to (I mean hello, parents can go on).
Anyways, I'll be there all day Friday - with school in the morning for the agricultural awareness and then take the kids on the rides till evening. Sigh!
I do miss the derby - used to be what I looked forward to but last year we decided not to cuz Tanner wouldn't sit still, this year, I think Tanner would like it, but Ricky doesn't want to go and Maddy has a photoshoot now that day! Ah well...
have fun and eat lots!
Oh this post made me SOOOO excited for the fair! Seriously CANNOT WAIT! I think I'm getting the best of both worlds! Getting to hand out in our spot and do the "midway" thing too with Sam. I love looking through the craft area. And the food....well it's always amazing! I think we will be going Monday too because Sam loved the truck pull so much we'll see if he likes the derby too. And if not, well we can hit up more rides and food! ha ha! My goal for this fair is to try those dilly's everyone faves about! Are you up for the challenge? ha ha! OH SO EXCITED!
I just drove 2 hours to see Chad Brownlee this past weekend for the 2nd time. It was awesome and I was against the stage.
We had Gord Bamford at our fair here (I am on the committee) and I love his music too. Brett Kissel has good songs so you can't go wrong with those 2.
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