After being forced to take a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the 2021 Orillia Fall Fair at ODAS Park was a success this weekend despite being condensed into a one-day event compared to the weekend-long events of years past.
Erin Abbott, the manager of the Orillia Fall Fair, says organizers and community members alike were all smiles during Saturday’s busy, fun-filled event.
“We got really good feedback. Everyone was very excited to get back out and doing things in our community again,” Abbott said.
Strict protocols were in place at the fair this year for both indoor and outdoor attractions. Fair-goers were asked to follow social distancing, masking, and sanitizing mandates.
The fair was also held to a capacity limit of 5,000 people when usually the fair would see between 8,000 and 10,000 over the weekend.
“We did recommend people buy tickets ahead of time so there is less cash handling at the gates and so people aren’t being turned away,” Abbott said.
“We had many things to think about with people going into the buildings, sitting on the bleachers, and things like that.”
This year’s fair was restricted to certain fan favourites such as the demolition derby and truck and tractor pulls. However, there was no midway this year.
“The midway is usually a big part of the fair and a big draw, especially for the teenaged crowd and up, but because of staffing shortages we were unable to have the midway,” Abbott explained.
Despite some changes and protocols, having a fair this year was important.
“We are a non-profit organization, and we do have a mandate with all of the other agriculture societies in Ontario to spread awareness about agriculture, animals, and food awareness,” Abbott explained.
“Unfortunately, we aren’t having any animal shows this weekend because it adds a lot more people to the grounds, a lot more issues with having animals on the grounds, and it adds to our budget in a big way. But the agricultural fairs are a huge tradition for our communities," said Abbott. "It’s a big learning experience for a lot of urban people, too.”
Abbott says she saw a lot of smiles around ODAS Park on Saturday, and said even though the event was cut back, most seemed to enjoy themselves.
“Two of our biggest draws are the demolition derby and the truck and tractor pulls - a lot of people specifically came out just for those two events. There is still a lot to do here," she said.
“It’s still a great event even though we condensed it and lost some of our attractions. We also added roller skating, pickleball demonstrations, and a cornhole tournament. It was still a big attraction, and a safe fun event.”
