Donnybrook Fair 2026: 169 Years in Charlotteville

A Norfolk County tradition since 1857

📍 Get Directions Full Schedule

Three days at the Charlotteville Community Centre in Walsh — tractor pulls Friday, a car show and demolition derby Saturday, a second demo derby and pro wrestling Sunday, and a Kids Zone running the whole weekend.

💥 Demolition derby 🚜 Tractor pulls 🚗 Car show 🤼 Pro wrestling Sunday

💡 The demolition derby runs on both Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 PM — if you can only make one day, either works for catching it.

Why Go Schedule Essentials History Getting There Tips FAQ

✨ Why This Fair Is Worth the Drive

Donnybrook Fair has run every single year since 1857 in the small Norfolk County hamlet of Walsh — a run of 169 consecutive years by 2026, named after an early settler’s comparison to the raucous Donnybrook Fair of Dublin, Ireland. The Charlotteville Agricultural Society now owns the Charlotteville Community Centre outright, purchased from Norfolk County for a symbolic $1 in 2023, cementing the fair’s home for the long term.

The fair leans heavily into motorsport for its size — tractor pulls Friday night, a Car Show Saturday morning, and a Demolition Derby that runs on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. A Power Wheels Derby gives younger kids their own version of the demo derby experience, and Sunday brings in IPA Pro Wrestling for a change of pace.

Youth participation is a genuine hallmark here, not just a talking point — students from Walsh Public School, St. Michael’s School, and homeschooled kids from the area enter artwork, crafts, and agricultural exhibits for prize money that the fair frames explicitly as a way to encourage saving toward future education.

Because the fair is small and centred entirely on one building and its grounds, it has a genuinely walkable feel — the Quonset hut exhibits, the demo derby ring, the Community Center stage, and the food vendors are all a short stroll apart, so there’s no need to shuttle between distant lots the way bigger regional fairs sometimes require.

📋 Fair Weekend Schedule

Confirmed via the fair’s official OAAS listing. Times are subject to change — check donnybrookfair.ca or Facebook for updates closer to the date.

📌 Essentials

🏛️ Every Year Since 1857

The Donnybrook Fair takes its name from an early settler who thought the local festivities resembled the spirited, sometimes rowdy Donnybrook Fair once held in Dublin, Ireland. Organized by the Charlotteville Agricultural Society, it’s been held every single year since 1857 in the small hamlet of Walsh, part of Norfolk County since amalgamation in 2001 — a run of continuous operation that makes it one of the longer-running fairs of its kind in Ontario.

In April 2023, Norfolk County sold the Charlotteville Community Centre to the volunteer-run Agricultural Society for a symbolic $1, transferring maintenance and operating responsibility to the same board that has run the fair for generations. The Centre, built in 1868 and still the fair’s home today, sits at the heart of a hamlet that otherwise has no remaining commercial businesses — making the fair one of the few events that still regularly brings the wider Walsh community together.

Fundraising is a year-round effort for the volunteer board that keeps the fair running: a food booth and a rotation of raffles held throughout the year help finance the weekend, a model common to small agricultural societies that don’t have the ticket revenue larger regional fairs rely on.

🚗 Getting There

The fair is held at the Charlotteville Community Centre, 1258 Turkey Point Road, in the hamlet of Walsh (mailing address Simcoe), Norfolk County — roughly a 15-minute drive south of Simcoe toward Turkey Point and Lake Erie.

💡 A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Go

💥 Pick your derby day. The Demolition Derby runs both Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM, so you don’t need to choose — but if you’re only coming once, either day gets you the full show.

🦅 Watch for the Birds of Prey shows. Sunday’s 1 and 3 PM sessions are a nice change of pace between the wrestling and the second demolition derby.

🚗 Bring your own classic car? Saturday’s 9 AM Car Show is a good draw if you want to display or just browse.

💵 Confirm pricing ahead of time. 2026 gate admission hadn’t been posted as of this writing — check the fair’s Facebook page before you head out.

❓ Common Questions