Parham Fair Dodges Raindrops

Jeff Green | Aug 21, 2024

The sun shone all day on Friday (August 16) but the forecast for Saturday was anything but promising, rain all day.

For organisers of the Parham Fair, this was not particularly good. Attendance at the horse pull and slip n' slide events on Friday evening was up this year, but with the horse show, fair games, demolition derby, and musical show all slated for ‘Fair Day’ on Saturday, it was not looking good for the 132nd edition of the only Agricultural Fair in Frontenac County this year.

Then it rained, hard, all night, and with rainfall warnings for Saturday from Environment Canada, and some exhibitors pulled out of the fair.

It stopped raining in the morning, and while the contest categories were being judged in the Palace, the horse show was underway, in what looked like a break in the rain.

The fair games began, and people began showing up, not in the same numbers as the year before, but steadily.

And the weather kept improving.

“By the time we got to the early afternoon, and things were continuing to happen at the fair, it was looking like we were going to have a good day, and everything just flowed from there,” said Parham Agricultural Board President Haley Rose.

The success of the frog jumping contest was followed by the best demolition derby in years, and the stands filled up.

By the time Lowery Mills took the stage in the evening, the Parham Fair had survived, and thrived, in 2024. It rained lightly for a few minutes during the set, but no one paid much attention. The weather had not killed the fair.

“I think the Fair is on a good path,” said Rose, “the participants all have a good time, it is an affordable place to come for local families and visitors, and everyone has a lot of fun.”

The 133rd Annual Parham Fair is set for August 16, 2025.