Arthur Fall Fair 2026: Homegrown, Homemade, Farm Fresh

Wellington North’s 170th annual celebration of agriculture and community

📍 Get Directions Full Schedule

Four days of 4-H livestock shows, a Friday night parade, a Farmer’s and Artisan Market, lawn tractor pulls, a Hunter Schooling horse show, and a chili cook-off — one of Wellington County’s longest-running fairs, dating back to 1856.

🐐 4-H livestock shows 🎪 Friday parade 🚜 Lawn tractor pulls 🐎 Horse shows

💡 Friday’s entry is by donation, and Saturday after 5pm drops to $5 — a good time to swing by if you’re just after the evening lawn tractor pulls.

Why Go Schedule Essentials Competitions Getting There Tips FAQ

✨ Why This Fair Is Worth the Drive

The Arthur Agricultural Society’s roots go back to 1881, and the fairgrounds themselves have a genuinely great story — the Society bought a triangle of land known as the “Village Common” back in 1890, once used as literal community cow pasture, and sold it to the village for a dollar in 1958 in exchange for guaranteed free use of the grounds 16 days a year. That agreement, now held with the Township of Wellington North, is why the fair still runs on this same historic site over 140 years later.

This year’s 170th fair carries the theme “Homegrown, Homemade, Farm Fresh,” and it shows in the programming: a genuinely deep 4-H program across beef, dairy, and sheep, a proper Farmer’s, Artisan and Vendor’s Market running most of the weekend, and homecraft and quilt competitions detailed enough to fill a fair book running dozens of pages. New for 2026 are a Hunter Schooling Show and Mounted Games event, live music from The Moore Band, and the return of Party Safari’s exotic animal display.

Arthur sits along Highway 6 in the Township of Wellington North, an easy drive from Fergus, Mount Forest, Guelph, or Orangeville, and the fair makes full use of the town’s community centre complex — the arena, curling club, and grounds all come into play across the weekend.

📅 Full Schedule

Four full days — from Thursday’s kick-off dinner to Sunday’s Ambassador crowning — with the parade and market anchoring the middle of the weekend.

📋 Essentials

🏅 A Genuinely Deep Competition Program

This is one of the more thorough fair books in the region. Beyond the 4-H livestock program, exhibitors compete across field crops, vegetables and flowers, domestic baking and preserves, antiques, homecrafts, quilting (including OAAS district-qualifying hand and machine quilt categories), fashion and sewing, woodworking, and photography. The quilting section alone runs to dozens of individual classes, and the Arthur Agricultural Society has sent District and Provincial award-winning quilts from this fair in recent years.

If you’ve got a green thumb, a knack for baking, or a finished quilt sitting around, entering is genuinely open to the public — membership is a nominal $5, and most classes carry real prize money alongside the ribbons.

🚗 Getting There & Parking

The Arthur Community Centre sits at 158 Domville Street, right on the old Village Common grounds in the heart of Arthur, part of the Township of Wellington North.

From Guelph or Fergus: Highway 6 runs directly north into Arthur, about a 30–40 minute drive from Guelph.

Parking: Reviewers of the arena note ample on-site parking for events; expect additional street parking in town during the busiest hours, especially Friday evening for the parade.

💡 A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Go

🎉 Friday night is the cheapest way in. Entry is by donation, and you’ll catch the parade and the Fair Ambassador Competition without paying the weekend day rate.

🍽️ Book the Kick-Off Dinner early. The Thursday roast beef supper is genuinely popular — grab tickets online or from a board member ahead of time rather than hoping for walk-up availability.

🚜 Saturday evening is for the lawn tractor pulls. After 5pm admission drops to $5, and the pulls at the Optimist Pavilion start at 6pm — a great value entry point.

📸 Considering entering something? Membership is just $5 and opens up baking, preserves, crafts, photography, and horticulture classes — most Friday morning entry deadlines run until 11:30am.

❓ Common Questions