Arran-Tara Fall Fair 2026: Tarry Awhile in Tara

Two days of livestock shows, a parade, lawn mower racing, and homecraft exhibits in Tara, Ontario

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The Arran-Tara Agricultural Society packs an unusual amount into two days — 4-H livestock shows, a full gymkhana, an antique tractor display, and stock lawn mower racing under the lights, alongside one of the deepest homecraft and produce exhibit halls in Bruce County.

🚜 Livestock shows & 4-H 🏎️ Lawn mower racing 🎪 Parade & pet show 🧶 Homecraft exhibits

💡 The two fair days have separate admission: Tuesday night’s Exhibit Hall and Wednesday’s Fairground each cost $10 for adults, so budget for both if you want the full experience.

Why Go Schedule Essentials History Getting There Tips FAQ

✨ Why This Fair Is Worth the Trip

Tara’s official motto is “Tarry Awhile in Tara,” and the Arran-Tara Agricultural Society takes that literally with a fair that packs two full days of programming into a small Bruce County community. The society’s own president put it simply in this year’s fair book: “too many to write down. Here I have to say come and see you will not be disappointed” — and looking at the program, it’s hard to argue.

What makes this fair stand out is the sheer range packed into two days. There’s a full slate of 4-H dairy and beef shows, an Open Beef Show, a miniature horse show, and a complete gymkhana and speed events program run by the Silver Spurs Saddle Club — alongside stock and modified lawn mower racing on Tuesday night, an antique tractor display, and Tom Bishop’s Wild West Show performing three separate times on Wednesday. Add a children’s pet show, a parade through town, and an exhibit hall covering everything from field crops and quilting to scrapbooking and photography, and you get a fair that feels far bigger than its two-day footprint suggests.

Over $16,000 in cash prizes goes out across the fair’s classes, funded in part by grants from the Municipality of Arran-Elderslie, the County of Bruce, and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food — a reminder that this is very much a working agricultural society event, not a commercial festival.

📅 The 2026 Program

Exhibit placing begins Monday evening, September 14, from 6 to 8 pm at the Community Centre. The two public fair days run as follows.

🎟️ Admission & Fair Essentials

Membership and free passes must be shown at the gate to get in. An annual Society membership costs $10, and members who purchase before September 1 receive one admission ticket covering both fair days along with a fair book — worth considering if you’re planning to attend both the Tuesday exhibit hall and Wednesday fairground.

The exhibit hall itself is enormous by small-fair standards: field crops and grains, vegetables, culinary arts, home canning and preserving, horticulture and cut flowers, quilting and needlecrafts, arts and crafts, scrapbooking, antiques and collectibles, photography, and a youth section broken into age brackets from 4-and-under through 15. Over $16,000 in cash prizes is distributed across these classes each year.

📜 A Long-Running Community Institution

The Arran-Tara Agricultural Society’s own records reach back decades: its Honour Roll, recognizing unselfish agricultural service to the community, has been awarded continuously since at least 1980, and the Senior and Junior Ambassador of the Fair programs have run without interruption since the late 1990s. Past ambassadors have gone on to represent Arran-Tara at the district level and, for eligible candidates, at the Canadian National Exhibition’s provincial Ambassador of the Fairs competition in Toronto.

The fair is still run the way agricultural society fairs have always been run — by an official board and a homecraft division of volunteer committee heads, many of whom have led the same sections for years. This year’s fair book includes a tribute to Marie Christie, who joined as a director in 1965 and stayed involved in every homecraft category for 55 years before her passing in 2026, a fitting example of the kind of long-term commitment that keeps a fair like this running.

On the Sunday following the fair, the tradition continues with a community church service on the arena floor at 11 am, supported by Tara’s four local churches — a quieter coda to two days that otherwise run at full volume.

🚗 Getting There

The fair runs at the Tara Community Centre, 150 Hamilton St, in Tara, part of the Municipality of Arran-Elderslie in Bruce County. The complex includes ball diamonds, a horse show area, and track space used across the two fair days.

Parking: The fair has a dedicated Parking & Police committee, though specific lot or overflow details for 2026 weren’t published in the fair book — arrive a little early on parade morning, since Wednesday’s parade route and road closures may affect access near the community centre.

💡 A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Go

🎫 Budget for two separate admissions. Tuesday’s Exhibit Hall and Wednesday’s Fairground are ticketed separately at $10 each for adults — a membership covering both days can be worth it if you’re coming for the full fair.

🐕 Kids only for the pet show. Tuesday night’s pet show is for children showing their dogs — pets need a current rabies vaccination and shouldn’t be shown in a cage.

🏁 Get a spot early for the lawn mower races. Tuesday’s stock and modified races start around 7 pm at the grandstands — a popular draw that fills seats fast.

🎉 Catch the parade Wednesday morning. It assembles at the school at 10:30 am sharp and starts by 11 — arrive downtown a little before that if you want a good curbside spot.

🤠 Don’t miss Tom Bishop’s Wild West Show. It runs three times on Wednesday (12:30, 2:00, and 3:30 pm), so there are several chances to catch it between other events.

❓ Common Questions