The smiles and laughter tell it all. I am sitting in a sea container perched on the grounds of the Brackendale Farmers Institute Park with the fair organization committee on a cool August evening and the energy is contagious. Most have been part of the Brackendale Fall Fair for 10 years or more and their devotion is obvious as I listen to their animated conversations on the logistics of the event.
An old-fashioned fair that marks the beginning of autumn, the Brackendale Fall Fair is a long-standing tradition in the community and this year it will be held on Saturday (Sept. 8).
When I ask how the fall fair captures the spirit of the town, the answers ring out as everyone scrambles to get a word in. It's a community celebration, they say, a time to reconnect with neighbours and friends you haven't seen in 12 months or more.
It's also about gardening and taking pride in our community, adds vendor co-ordinator Tracy Seille.
"And we really want to encourage any backyard gardeners or crafters to enter our exhibit tent this year to join in with the blue-ribbon-winning jams and flowers. It's amazing what comes out of the community," she said, noting there were more than 400 entries last year.
"There's also a huge educational aspect for the kids," noted committee member Derek Smith. Whether it's witnessing the antics of the playful goats or searching for the "needle in the haystack" or partaking in the zucchini races, children love the fall fair, he said.
Seille says the zucchini races are a big hit at the fair each year. Kids have the opportunity to deck out a zucchini with wooden wheels and flags, and then they race them down the zucchini ramp.
Another enormously popular element is the hay rides, led by an antique tractor, and committee member Thor Froslev says that last year more than 1,000 people took part.
An addition to the fair this year is the return of the teepee after a five-year hiatus, explains Froslev. Inside the teepee will be bells from the Brackendale Art Gallery and a First Nations display.
With 75 vendors on site and live music provided all day long by local musicians, including Cam Salay, the spirit of the Brackendale Fall Fair is bound to be festive.
Committee member Madeline Robertson points out that it's the traditions that people look forward to year after year.
"People look forward to the continuation," she said, adding that one year organizers decided to cut back on events and when she asked a teen what he thought of the fair, he was sad there was no mini-golf. It was re-instated the following year.
Bringing awareness to saving the park is of the utmost importance, added Seille. The Brackendale Farmers Institute Park, where the fair is held each year, is 50 acres of woodland that has been in existence since 1957, but still lacks official protection. Froslev says the new 撸奶社区council have put the park in the Community Plan as a green space, but the institute is still awaiting official designation from the provincial government.
Join in the excitement at the Brackendale Fall Fair on Saturday (Sept. 8) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring the family, but not the dog, please, Seille urged.
For more on the fair, visit www.brackendalefallfair.ca.
