189th Fergus Fall Fair 2026: Ontario’s 10th-Oldest Tradition

Truck and tractor pulls, livestock shows, midway rides, and a brand-new mascot in Fergus

📍 Get Directions Full Schedule

The Fergus Agricultural Society has run this fair since 1836, making it the tenth-oldest in Ontario — and after moving to the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex in 1997, it now draws close to 20,000 visitors over one weekend for truck and tractor pulls, livestock shows, and a midway that keeps growing.

🚜 Truck & tractor pulls 🎡 Midway rides & games 🐎 Meet Pearl the mascot 👨‍👩‍👧 Family-friendly activities

💡 New this year: meet Pearl, a 16-year-old Percheron horse and the fair’s first-ever mascot, near the main gate all three days — then cheer her on in the Heavy Horse Show Sunday morning.

Why Go Schedule Meet Pearl Essentials History Getting There Tips FAQ

✨ Why This Fair Is Worth the Trip

Fergus sits close enough to Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, and the western GTA that the fall fair makes an easy day trip, but the pull here is bigger than proximity. This is the tenth-oldest agricultural fair in Ontario, and it’s kept its small-town character even as attendance has climbed toward 20,000 people over a single weekend — a big number for a fair still built almost entirely on volunteer effort through the Fergus Agricultural Society.

The lineup mixes old and new in a way that works. The OTTPA truck and tractor pulls remain the marquee draw, pulling in serious competitors and an appreciative crowd trackside every year since they were added in 1978 and 1981. Around that anchor, you’ll find Krusher BMX stunt shows, a rotating aerial acrobatics act from Hercinia Arts, a full slate of live music and dance in the Entertainment Tent, and the traditional exhibit halls packed with baking, handicrafts, and produce that have been part of the fair since its earliest days as a one-day cattle show.

What sets 2026 apart is Pearl — the fair’s first-ever mascot, a Percheron horse who’ll be posted up near the main gate for photos and scratches all weekend. It’s a small addition, but it’s the kind of thing that gives families a reason to linger a little longer between the animal barns and the midway.

📅 Three Days at a Glance

The full brochure schedule runs long, so here’s the shape of each day — livestock shows in the mornings, entertainment and demos rolling through the afternoons, and the pulls and midway carrying things into the evening.

🐎 Meet Pearl, the Fair’s First-Ever Mascot

For 189 years the Fergus Fall Fair has gotten by without a mascot, so it’s a genuine first when Pearl, a 16-year-old Percheron horse, takes on the role in 2026. She’s over 1.8 metres tall and weighs about a tonne, but her owner Sarah describes her as a gentle giant who’s used to crowds from years of community parades and local horse shows.

You’ll find Pearl in a dedicated meet-and-greet area near the main admission gate — Friday from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm and again from 3:00 to 7:00 pm, and Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. She and Sarah also compete together in the Heavy Horse Show on Sunday morning from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, which is a good time to catch her in action rather than just at a standstill for photos.

🎟️ Admission, Midway & Fair Essentials

Tickets are sold online in advance and at the gate; debit, credit, and cash are all accepted at admission and the Beer Garden, and ATMs are on site. Driver-and-mechanic pairs arriving for the truck or tractor pull get free entry with pull registration.

The midway runs all three days with at least five adult and family rides and six child rides, plus games and food booths, operated by an outside midway company rather than the Agricultural Society directly. Individual ride tickets cost $5 each or 10 for $40, and unlimited-ride bracelets are $35 for one of four time blocks across the weekend (bracelets can only be bought on the day they’re used).

The Beer Garden runs Friday and Saturday from 5 pm to midnight beside the truck and tractor pull track — outside alcohol isn’t permitted anywhere on the grounds. Public camping isn’t available, and pets other than show competitors and documented service animals aren’t allowed in, so leave the family dog at home even if you were planning to keep it leashed.

📜 Nearly Two Centuries in Fergus

The story starts in 1836, when what would become the Centre Wellington Fair began life as a one-day midwinter cattle show — the earliest records were lost to fire, so the details are hazy, but by 1870 it had grown into a two-day September event run jointly by the Centre Wellington and Nichol Agricultural Societies. Livestock judging shared the bill with competitions in grain, roots, fruit, dairy, and needlework, a formula that hasn’t really changed in the century and a half since.

The name has shifted more than the fair itself has: Fergus Fall Fair in the 1920s, Centre Wellington Union Fair in the 1930s, Wellington County Fair through the ’50s and ’60s, and Fergus Fall Fair again — for good, this time — from 1965 onward. Along the way it picked up the pieces that make it recognizable today: entertainment and horse racing by the early 1900s, gates at the old Victoria Park grounds marking a century of service in 1937, a Queen of the Fair competition starting in 1979 that later opened to all genders as the Ambassador program, and tractor and truck pulls added in 1978 and 1981 that quickly became the fair’s signature draw.

The biggest logistical shift came in 1997, when the fair outgrew Victoria Park and moved to its current home at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex. Fergus ambassador Jeanine Wallace went on to win the provincial CNE Ambassador of the Fairs title in 2004, and the fair itself has proven remarkably durable — postponed here and there through wartime, but never fully cancelled until COVID forced a virtual edition in 2020 and 2021. When it returned in person in 2022, attendance doubled compared to pre-pandemic years, and it’s held that momentum ever since, now pulling in close to 20,000 visitors across the weekend.

🚗 Getting There & Parking

The fair runs at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex at 550 Belsyde Ave E in Fergus. There’s some free parking on site and along nearby side streets, but it’s limited and fills quickly on a fair weekend.

Paid gate parking: $5 to park inside the fair gates directly, first-come first-served.

Free shuttle: Runs Friday from 5:00 pm to midnight and Saturday from noon to midnight, looping continuously between the fairgrounds and the AO Smith lot at 599 Hill St W in Fergus. Look for the bus marked with Fergus Fall Fair signage.

Accessible parking: Available in the Sportsplex lot and at the back of the building through the Denny Gate entrance near the skatepark, first-come first-served.

💡 A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Go

🎫 Buy tickets online ahead of time. Advance tickets are available through the fair’s online ticketing partner and typically save you a bit over gate pricing — handy when you’re bringing the whole family.

🅿️ Use the shuttle if the lot looks full. On-site parking disappears fast on Saturday afternoon — the free shuttle from AO Smith is the easiest backup and drops you close to the main gate.

🐕 Leave pets at home. Only show competitors and documented service animals are permitted on the grounds, no exceptions for leashed pets.

🌆 Go in the evening for the pulls. The Friday tractor pull starts at 6:30 pm and Saturday’s truck pull at 6:00 pm — arrive a little early to find a spot near the track.

🐴 Time your visit around Pearl. Her meet-and-greet windows shift each day, so check the times above before you head to the main gate expecting to find her.

❓ Common Questions