I went back to the Farmington Fair last night with the fam. It was our 18th time going, more or less. (There have been some years not everyone has gone, but I think at least someone from the family has gone every single year we’ve been here.) Lots different going the 18th time vs the 1st time, mainly in that now it’s not nearly as big of a deal to spend money on rides and fair food. That’s a big plus. We got some maple cotton candy, fried dough, and french fries. (For the record, I don’t recommend eating so much fried food when you’re still recovering from a whole bunch of not fun in your abdomen. At least, it didn’t do wonders for me . . .)
Having just gone to the highland games in Stirling, Scotland, I couldn’t help but compare the experience of the two different fairs (because that’s essentially what the highland games are). As surprising as it is for me to write it, I think the Farmington Fair easily trounces the highland games in pretty much every category but “feats of strength” and “number of kilts seen.” The Fair draws more people from the entire area, though I suppose I didn’t see many international visitors that I could easily identify. Judging from the people I saw at the highland games, if you took away the international visitors, you’d lose about half the audience. Plus, the games go for a single day. The fair goes for an entire week. The games had a few food trucks with very long lines. The fair had a slew of eating options. The games had no rides. The fair had the whole range.
(As an aside, MC surprised Denisa and me by suddenly deciding that she wanted to go on the Zipper. If you’re unfamiliar with the Zipper, it’s a ride where you get into a completely enclosed cage and then get hurled in tight loop-de-loops as you go around a elliptical moving track.
To have MC suddenly decide she wanted to do this was kind of the same as me stating out of the blue that I wanted to start ballet. Daniela flat out refused to go with her, having gone once before with Tomas, back in the day. “Once was enough, thanks,” she said. MC managed to convince a friend to go with her, and we watched, wondering if she’d come off the ride in tears or smiles. I tended to think it would be tears, but she proved me wrong by loving the whole thing, and wanting to ride again right away. At one point, her “cage” did three somersaults in a row. (Alas, her friend didn’t have nearly as good of a time, and MC couldn’t convince anyone else to go with her again.))
Some of you might be thinking comparing the games and the fair isn’t an equal comparison. But at their core, they do about the same thing. Both have the carnival vibe. Both have people competing in different games of skill. Yes, the highland games had telephone pole tossing and shot putting, but the fair had “drag your neighbor,” where locals entered to drag race against each other. It also has the demolition derby . . .
The fair also has the agricultural and arts aspect, with people competing in categories ranging from “best cucumbers” to “best crocheted toy.” (This was the first year we’ve ever not entered anything. It was a difficult August/September, so I’m cutting us some slack.) And then there are all the animals: cows, horses, ponies, ducks, chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits . . .
If I had to choose one to recommend to people, it would easily be the fair. Of course, I just went to Stirling games, and they have about 8,000 spectators. There are much larger ones, with more than 20,000 spectators, and maybe they have more going on there. On the other hand, I’m comparing them to a county fair. It’s not like it was the state fair or anything. I think the comparison is more or less fair.
The good news is that it’s not really a competition, and you can go to both and enjoy both. But I’m not sure going back to the Stirling games is on my To Do list, while seeing the fair again next year is already a given.