Deerfield Fair celebrates its 150th
By Chelsea Spear
listings@hippopress.com
In 1876 the town of Deerfield held its first fair in honor of the American centennial. Since then, the Deerfield Fair has become one of the area’s most popular agricultural fairs, attracting 100,000 people to a four-day event featuring rides, games, live music, sheep dog herding and a tractor pull.
For several generations of Granite State youth, the Deerfield Fair has been a highlight of their year. Members of organizations like Rockingham County 4-H and the Future Farmers of America have presented their work at the fair.
“It’s an opportunity for our 4-H members and the families to showcase their projects that they’ve been working on throughout the year,” Emmalee Garvin, the program manager for 4-H Rockingham County, said in a recent Zoom interview. “This is our capstone event for our Rockingham County 4-H members. We have an exhibit building … and members come in and they showcase and display the projects that they’ve been working on all year. It’s just really a great opportunity to see all the things that our members have done throughout the year.”
“For years and years, the Deerfield Fair has welcomed FFA to the fairgrounds, and we’ve had various contests over the years,” Future Farmers of America Executive Director Maria VanderWoude said in a separate Zoom interview. “Most of our chapters from across the state go to it. It’s a big deal for the students, and it’s really the first activity of the school year. So students are super excited for it.”
Both 4-H and the FFA are youth-oriented activities. While many 21st-century high school students might be encouraged to learn coding or other tech-related skills, “the great thing about 4-H is that it really offers kids the chance to explore things that they’re interested in, which sometimes develops into lifelong passions,” Garvin observes. “It’s not just kids on farms that have animals, it’s kids from all over the community. It’s just a mix of everybody. And that’s the great thing about 4-H is that there’s a little bit of everything for everyone.”
Both Garvin and VanderWoude describe the Deerfield Fair as the highlight of their students’ year. How do their presentations go from idea to reality?
“It’s what the clubs want to do,” Garvin says. “I ask my club leaders leading up to the fair, ‘What do you want to do within the building? How much space do you need?’ The exhibit building is a conversation between me, the volunteers, my club leaders, and we have the opportunity to provide electricity. It has to be within reason of the spacing that we have.”
For the FFA, the exhibits are a bit more predetermined.
“[We’ve been doing] these contests for years and years. I think [FFA volunteer coordinator] Diane House would present that to the fair association and hopefully get their approval. And we have to give teachers plenty of lead time so that they can prepare students.”
Both FFA and 4-H have built barns for their organizations’ exhibitions. What can we expect to see at the Deerfield Fair this year?
“We have our exhibit building with all the projects that the members are showcasing, and then our fence talks and building talks,” Garvin says. “Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, our exhibit building is open from the start of the fair to the close of the fair for people to come in and see. We’re also doing a kind of scavenger hunt activity in the building for the public to participate in and to be entered to win a prize if they complete it. And then of course, seeing the kids doing their public speaking. We’ll have members and volunteers in the building for people to interact with and talk to. And then Saturday and Sunday are our 4-H youth animal shows.”
For Garvin the Deerfield Fair reflects a youth experience that doesn’t get as much attention now. “People nowadays just think kids are stuck on tablets or on video games,” she observes. “This is just showcasing that no, there are kids out there building things, creating things, working with animals and doing things that it’s amazing to see when you walk through that building, you’re like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe a 10-year-old made this,’ or things like that. So it’s really just great to see.”
Deerfield Fair
When: Thursday, Oct. 1, through Sunday, Oct. 4
Hours: Thursday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: 34 Stage Road, Deerfield
Admission: adults $12; children 12 and under free; discounts available for seniors and military.
More: See a full schedule, download a fair map, and purchase advance tickets online at deerfieldfair.com.