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Date: 9/14/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown Fair returns to the Belchertown Town Common from Sept. 22-24.
Belchertown Fair Committee member Shawn Lindholm said, “The format remains relatively unchanged so that will be comforting to people familiar with the fair. They will know what’s going on when.”
There will also be a few new bands, attractions, event and vendors, according to Johnson.
The fair will begin Friday from 3 to 10 p.m. On Saturday, the parade will start at 10 a.m. with the fair going until 10 p.m. and on Sunday, the fair will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This year’s theme is “Blue Jeans and Fair Dreams,” and the committee credited Casey Kibbe with suggesting this year’s theme.
“The theme resonated with the Fair Committee members this year,” Lindholm said.
She added, “Blue jeans crossed all boundaries and walks of life from farmers to school kids to the mom working at home in the garden. It also encompasses the agriculture groups that Belchertown has. The fair dreams aspect, with COVID-19 canceling the fair for a couple years, it invokes the hope that we can look forward to the fun that fair brings. People spend all year dreaming about the fair.”
Belchertown Fair offers a wide variety of family-friendly activities throughout the weekend including rides, games, food, vendors, live music, live animals and exhibit halls.
Lindholm said, “It’s a great opportunity for our local nonprofits that weekend to raise awareness of the projects they are doing and raise a little fundraising.”
The community fair celebrates the agricultural roots of Belchertown as well as its active growing community.
Lindholm said, “In our exhibit hall there are always new demonstrations. Every year we have different people come in, demonstrate what they are doing with agricultural products. There will be yarn spinning and weaving, hobby bee keeping and a lot more.”
One of the best things about the fair is it is mostly free for everyone to attend.
Lindholm said, “First of all, it is a free event. Except for parking, you can come and not spend a dime. Between the free entertainment and just walking around and seeing all the booths. Everything that goes down at the pulling ring, completely free. That is the biggest thing is that it is relatively inexpensive.”
Lindholm added how much there is to do for everyone.
“Whether you are into the agricultural side with the animals or if you are artistic and just want to hang out. You can spend hours in the exhibit hall just looking through everything. There are so many creative people in Belchertown. There are also the rides for the kids, bands all weekend long. I think the is the best part of the fair is there is so much to do,” she said.
The Belchertown Fair Committee will start setting up on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 12 p.m. by putting together all the tents and will decorate the exhibit hall on Thursday, Sept. 21.
Lindholm said the committee is always looking for help.
She added, “We are looking for volunteer help all the time. Everybody needs volunteers. We also need help with clean-up. After the fair is done, we need to clean off the common in one evening so by Monday morning it has to be cleared. We need lots of help with that.”
Lindholm said that anytime someone wants to volunteer they can go to the gazebo on the Belchertown Common.
“We have a list of things that need to be done throughout the weekend and how much time somebody wants to donate whether it’s an hour or a couple hours, we can put them to work,” Lindholm added.
For more information about the fair schedule, visit btownfair.com.
Lindholm said, “I love the fair. That is why I am on the committee. It’s a time where at some point everyone in town winds up on the common at the fair. You might run into people that you see once a year and you get to catch up and have the excitement for the that. I love the energy around the fair with everyone being in a good mood, everyone having a good time and it shows in people’s attitudes.