FARM 2025: Lucknow Agricultural Society works towards annual fall fair
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
For over 160 years, the village of Lucknow has been celebrating its local farming community by holding a fall fair. Over that time, a lot has changed in the world of agriculture, and the fall fair has changed right alongside it. What began as an annual excuse to show up your neighbour’s cabbage with a much better cabbage has slowly developed into a sort of community catch-all of entertainment - the homecrafts competition has grown to include hundreds of categories, from the obvious to the esoteric. Eventually, games were added, and then rides. These days, inflatables seem to be all the rage.
But these community celebrations aren’t just something conjured out of thin air by the Fair Fairy - behind every great fair, there’s a hardworking Agricultural Society that spends the whole year planning and organizing the event. The Lucknow Agricultural Society (LAS) is one such group - a dedicated collective that chooses to use what little free time they have putting on the best fair they can, every year.
Freshly-elected LAS President Emily Morrison attributes the longevity of Lucknow’s fall fair to all the longtime society members who keep the fair going. “You need that core group of people,” she pointed out. “The people who hold it all together, who make it so the fair happens, every year. The people who pull all the other people in…. It’s the willingness to work together, and connect with your community to support your community. All of us are different sitting around the table, but the essence of us is the same - we all love agriculture. When it comes down to it, we’re very lucky to have a fall fair, and we’re very lucky to have an alive and thriving Agricultural Society.”
Then there are all the volunteers who come out to donate their time on the weekend of the fair. “There’s so many people that help,” Morrison pointed out. “At a minimum, it’s at least 14 gate shifts, and there’s at least 12 to 14 Homecraft volunteers, solely. And there’s another 12 for the Family Fun Zone. Then there’s the 4-H people, who host an event at the fair… it’s a lot!”
Of course, the LAS could use a few more volunteers willing to donate their time and talents to the fair. “We’re always open. Always, every year, all the time,” Morrison explained to The Citizen. “One thing that’s different with us - I feel like there’s a lot of young people around the table. And I think we’re trying to stay innovative, we’re trying to be on the edge… and you don’t need to show up to every meeting!”
One such innovation happened in 2020, when, for reasons that resonated around the globe, there was no physical fall fair in Lucknow. The LAS, still wanting to provide the community with some agri-tainment, decided to pivot. “We ended up making a bingo card, and we put it in the newspaper, and we put it online,” Morrison remembered. There was a card for animals, a card for homecrafts, and one for field crops. Each square on the cards contained something related to Lucknow’s agricultural community. “So people had to go out and take selfies with cornfields, sunflower fields, wheat fields,” she explained. “If they submitted their completed BINGO card, they got a prize. And that’s how we tried to create a virtual fair. And then, we rocked it in 2021! It was an outdoor, one-day fair.”
Morrison remembers how much she looked forward to the fair growing up, and she wants to keep giving the youth of today the chance to feel the same way. “It was the opportunity to show off your prized vegetables and corn stalks. I remember entering for the giant pumpkin - we used to grow pumpkins, and we used to grow giant pumpkins, specifically for the fall fair,” she recalled. Entering and attending the fair every year also gave Morrison a serious case of hometown pride when she was a child. “In my mind, I felt like you couldn’t really go to any other fall fair, because it was for your town.”
The LAS also sponsors different community events at the Lucknow and District Sports Complex throughout the year, including free skating and swimming. They also sponsor Art in the Park - a community-led program designed to spark youth creativity. “Essentially, kids can just come to the park and do art,” Morrison explained. “And some of them are themed to match the theme of the fair, and then they have something to enter in the fair!”
An exciting development for the 2025 fair is the elimination of the gate fee on Friday night, which means free admission for all who attend. Planning is currently underway for some Friday night programming that will hopefully attract visitors of all ages.
This year, Morrison is also excited for the Sunday church service, which signifies the official end of the fair. “To be honest, I hope my legacy is with the church service,” she said. “It has an agricultural topic, and it’s non-denominational - it’s about community, and actually promoting agriculture!”
Morrison has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Sustainability Studies, and she’s worked as the Marketing Director for events like the 2017 International Plowing Match in Walton. She’s hoping that she can harness all those experiences to raise the profile of the Lucknow Fall Fair. She already knows that the fair is an awesome event that everybody should come to - now she just needs to make sure the rest of the world knows it too.