A look back: 185 years of the Stratford Fall Fair 

While today thousands of Stratford residents and visitors visit the annual Fall Fair for the rides and attractions, its history goes back deeper than one could ever guess. It predates Stratford as a city, as a town or village, and indeed Canada as a country. In 1841, four prominent area citizens – John Linton, William Jackson, Alex McDonald and William Smith – started the Stratford Agricultural Society, according to Reflections: A History of the Stratford Agricultural Society 1841-1991, by local historian Dean Robinson.

 According to Robinson, the four founders invited area farmers, 17 of whom came, to a meeting at the Shakespeare Inn, the first permanent structure in Stratford that is located where Café Bouffon and Pazzo Pizzeria currently is. It was in that timber building the society was formed and its first “exhibition” was planned for Oct. 14, 1842. The fair opened at noon and had exhibits of farm animals and homemade items like woollen mittens and farm implements. There were 28 prize categories and the money totalled 20 pounds, five shillings ($45 Canadian dollars). The AG society of the day and its fair continued to grow over time. In 1857, the society paid 200 pounds to the Canada Company for an acre of land that was to be a permanent fairground, located at the corner of Wellington Street and St. Patrick’s Street – though those grounds did not last long. By 1865 the fair had grown too large to be held there, bouncing around the city across the years. In 1911, a committee decided on a 24- acre field near John Street and Britannia Street, which had a sale price between $3,500 and $4,000. This field would be home to the fall fair for many years, and residents and visitors can still see the stone entranceway today at the Britannia Street roundabout. The Stratford Fall Fair was held on that site until 2011. The following year, it took place at the Stratford Rotary Complex and Agriplex off of McCarthy Drive, where it currently is today. Although the fair changed throughout the years, adding exhibits this year, changing them the next, removing them entirely as the decades went on, the popular carnival attractions that are so prevalent and popular today were not so in its early days. The ag society voted to include its first “midway” at the fall fair in 1923. It was not without its critics either, as many thought such games, amusement rides and entertainment had no place in the agricultural exhibitions and the operators “cast a seedy and immoral cloud” over the show. Nevertheless, the midway of the day proved popular enough to warrant its continuation and today the attractions of the fair are synonymous with the fair itself – without any seedy or immoral worries. Additionally, the Stratford Fair Ambassador program is relatively new, given the fair’s long history. It began in 1974 and those crowned were originally known as the “Queen of the Fair.” The year’s queen was primarily focused on promoting the fair. They would visit other fairs in the area, ride in parades, take an active roll in fair events and help organize the competition for the following year, among other duties. Today, the role is much the same, though they are now known as ambassadors and both boys and girls may be named. Fair ambassadors have the opportunity to partake in a regional competition, for title of District 8 Ambassador and get to represent fairs across Huron-Perth. As well as partake in the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE)’s Ambassador of the Fairs competition in Toronto, for title of CNE Ambassador and to represent the CNE at fairs across Ontario.