The Tunbridge World's Fair is an annual event held in mid-September in

Tunbridge, Vermont Tunbridge is a town in Orange County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the town population was 1,337. The town consists of three village centers, all situated on Vermont Route 110 in the valley of the first branch of ...

. The annual fair continues to this day with demonstrations of farming and

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

traditions and culture, working antique displays, horse and ox pulling, horse racing, cattle and horse shows, junior exhibits, floral and

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...

exhibits,

contra dancing Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) is a form of folk dancing made up of long lines of couples. It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish country dance, and French dance styles in the 17th c ...

gymkhana Gymkhana () ( ur, جِمخانہ, sd, جمخانه, hi, जिमख़ाना, as, জিমখানা, bn, জিমখানা) is a British Raj term which originally referred to a place of assembly. The meaning then altered to den ...

, and many free shows.

History

The Tunbridge World's Fair began in 1867 and has been held annually for years. The first eight fairs were held in North Tunbridge, Vermont, while the following have been held in Tunbridge. The fair is currently chaired by Alan Howe, who took over from Euclid Farnham after the 2009 fair. Farnham had been president of the fair for over 30 years, and had made major efforts to change the fair from a "drunkards reunion," with "girlie-shows" (strip shows) and unlimited alcohol, to a more family-friendly environment. There were cancellations in 1917–18, 1942–44 & 2020.

Operation

The fair is operated by a board of 100 shareholders. The shares were first sold in 1901 to raise funds for the fair's continued operation. Shares are passed through families and give the shareholders 100th ownership and a vote in fair proceedings. The fair, however, is a completely non-profit venture and shareholders receive no portion of the fair's revenue.

References

External links

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Friends of the Tunbridge Fair
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