Meet me at the Fair
Finding home at the Royal County Show
This past weekend we attended the Royal Isle of Wight County Show, organised by the Royal Isle of Wight Agricultural Society. (Not to be confused with the similarly themed Isle of Wight County Fair in Virgina, USA!)
The IoW County Show is mainly an agricultural show, with a lot of other things thrown in for additional fun. We’d been to a similar show last summer and met all kinds of wonderful people, artisans and charity group staff, as well as eating and drinking well, so we looked forward to this bigger show. Thankfully we are blessed with agricultural bounty all around us. Learning about the organisations, groups and individuals supporting our local economy helps connect us.
We already have been delighted by and support the many local producers on the Island: among them the Garlic Farm, the Chile Shop, Mermaid Gin, Briddlesford Farm dairy, several breweries, Island Roasted Coffee, and our very own Living Larder veg box delivery which brings us food from the fields only a mile away. For most of my adult life, locally produced food and drink have been a major part of connecting to my place. I love knowing where our food comes from, especially when it is just down the road, and we pass the fields several times a week. I recently regaled you with stories from our sheepdog trials, so you know there are plenty of sheep too!
This County Show is a grand showcase and competition for the many farmers and growers and livestock handlers on the Island. There was the pig ring, the sheep ring, and the cattle ring. There was a show farm and several equine demonstration areas. There were competitions in numerous categories within the sheep, cattle, pigs and equine groups.
But never fear, there was more!
We perused the vintage cars and steam engines of all kinds, the vintage and classic tractors and standing engines. There were traditional woodland crafts as well as displays of modern agricultural machinery. There were dog shows and numerous parades.
Oh no, we are certainly not done yet!
The tourism tent featured all the ways you can entertain yourself when you visit the Island. These are the places we have not seen much of, sad to say, as they are mainly geared to entertaining smaller children here on holiday. One of our recent visitors wanted to go to the Donkey Sanctuary1, so I have been there, and it was fascinating. Donkeys are brought here from all over the UK and sometimes Europe; there are currently 116 donkeys in numerous fields and shelters spread over 55 acres. Who knew?!
There were also two large artisan and maker marquees where we chatted to a couple of artists we know already, and met a couple of new artists who produce crafts with which we were particularly enchanted. There were the business and charitable organisation trade stands (like the police, utility companies, and friendly local insurance companies). There were new electric cars and rental camper vans to clamber inside and imagine owning someday.
And then there was the food! A whole tent of locally made food products in addition to a sprawling neighbourhood of ready to eat food and drink. We tried a few of those products; as they say here: it would be rude not to! I had my first Pimm’s Cup of the year, which is terribly late in the summer season to be just starting. Pete tried a new-to-him local brew, and sampled some of the sausages made just up the road. I found a booth from a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try for my veggie lunch. Win-win-win!
But of course the most charismatic part of the show was seeing all the young farmers showing off their livestock. They were easy to spot throughout the Show grounds as they proudly wore their bright white coats.
At the end of the day there was a parade of all the category prize winners. Mostly it was a well-behaved group although there was one sheep who was absolutely not interested in going around the ring one more time. Nope… She sat down and her young handler did everything possible to get the sheep to move. Nope. Not moving. There was a bit of a pile up behind. Eventually a couple of adults came along and chivvied the ewe along. Whew.
This is just a small snapshot of what we saw, and there was so much more that we missed entirely. For instance:
British Scurry and Trials Driving: What is that, you say? This is what the programme says: “Fast, furious and fun. Executing an obstacle course against the clock with ponies of all heights, shapes and sizes with single to team turnouts.”
Shetland Grand National: “All the excitement of the world famous Grand National horse race on a miniature scale!”
Rural Careers Fund Big Bale Corporate Challenge
Adams Axeman: UK’s best known lumberjack display team.
Horse and livestock judging
Pig fancy dress competition
Pig agility
‘Dog most like owner’ competition
And so much more….🦅🐴🦙🐎🐕🦺🪵🌾!
We love these sorts of gatherings. This one was generously spread out so there was lots of space for kids to run and everyone to feel relaxed and wander in a leisurely fashion.
What they didn’t have and I absolutely did not miss were loud carnival-style noises and smells. There were no ringing bells and whistles from arcade games and loud tinny music from the carnival-style rides. No candy floss/cotton candy2: none of that kind of food. That sort of carnival has it’s place; you can find them during the summer in many places around the world. They feature similar rides, reliably sugary and fried food, loud sounds and particular smells.
This County Show, by contrast, celebrates this place, these people and their livelihoods on the land. It couldn’t be anywhere else or have the same feel even if it was transported to the mainland UK (or the Big Island as we like to call it 😉.)
For us, it was a relaxing day learning more about our Island neighbours and another step on our journey to feeling just a little bit more at home.
Now I’d love to hear from you!
Do you like County Fairs?
What parts of a Fair/Faire/Show do you like to see/hear/eat?
What activities are your favourite?
Do you call it candy floss, fairy floss or cotton candy?
Does going to the Faire connect you to the place you live?
As always, I appreciate you reading! I hope you are enjoying some version of summer and I look forward to seeing you next week!
Sabrina xx
https://www.iowdonkeysanctuary.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_candy. Also known as fairy floss. This has to be one of the most colourfully named food items for such a weird ‘food’.
All right. We HAVE to make a plan for next summer so we can join you at this event. Or the dogs and sheep competition. Or maybe we'll stay through for both :). This fair sounds like so much fun. Fabio would love the gin part.
It sounds more my style than the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul which I attended a couple of times with Mateo. Its most outstanding feature is the most "inventive" food on a stick, including fried pickles, corn dogs, Oreos, Mac and Cheese, fried olives, Tater Tots, cheesecake, waffles, salad, and bacon. There are fifty-eight foods on a stick at that event. You can see that food is just not me.
I am serious about visiting next year so let's make a plan off line. I'll hear from Martha this week about the Donkey Sanctuary. We might have to add that to the itinerary as well.
What a wonderful account Sabrina! This sounds like such a lovely and connecting experience and has all the best aspects (in my opinion!) of a Fair. Having been your recent visitor who was thrilled to visit the Donkey Sanctuary 😀, I absolutely would have loved seeing the Shetland Pony event along with all the other activities.
My experience with Fairs is primarily with our current home state of New York’s State Fair, which is a HUGE annual extravaganza lasting close to 10 days at the end of the summer. I didn’t grow up attending fairs in Northern California (in retrospect it must not have been something my parents had any interest in!) so the first time I attended the NY State Fair was a revelation! It’s a giant combination of all of the elements you described, plus the raucous midway, fried food extravaganza (Bloomin’ Onions anyone’s??) and large concerts. It’s an experience! But I am drawn each time we go to the Fair to the livestock, farm and locally grown bounty displays and events. One of the highlights? The Dairy Barn!! There is an annual butter sculpture with the most amazing dioramas carved out of butter (displayed in a large refrigerated case which you can walk around to see all sides) and delicious samples of ice cold milk (chocolate and regular) which is out of this world delicious.
And here it’s called Cotton Candy, but it’s not a treat I enjoy. Give me an ice cold chocolate milk on a hot, humid summer day any time!