Madoc Fair 2026: 121 Years in Centre Hastings

A fall fair tradition on Cooper Road since 1905

📍 Get Directions Full Schedule

Three days at the Madoc Fairgrounds — a demolition derby, horse and livestock shows, a midway, and a Homecraft hall stacked with more than a century of local exhibits, all run by the volunteer-driven Madoc Agricultural Society since 1905.

💥 Demolition derby 🐴 Horse & pony pull 🎡 Midway rides 👶 Baby & toddler show

💡 Midway ride tickets don’t sell in advance — buy them at the fairgrounds, and a single-day bracelet is worth it if the kids plan to ride more than a handful of times.

Why Go Schedule Essentials History Getting There Tips FAQ

✨ Why This Fair Is Worth the Drive

The Madoc Agricultural Society formed on May 30, 1905, at a meeting that pulled together the townships of Madoc, Elzevir, Huntingdon, Marmora, and Rawdon. That original district-fair spirit is still visible in 2026’s 121st edition — a fair still run by the same kind of community volunteer effort that built its first race track and exhibit hall back in the 1920s.

Motor Sports are the modern draw, with a demolition derby anchoring Saturday night and a busy Derby Booth extending food service into the evening. But the fair hasn’t drifted from its roots — Horse and Livestock exhibitors compete across sheep, beef cattle, saddle and harness horses, rabbits, and poultry classes, and the Homecraft hall runs a full slate of baking, canning, horticulture, and photography competitions.

It’s a fair built at the scale of the town it serves — compact enough to see everything in an afternoon, but with enough packed into three days that most visitors end up picking a favourite day rather than trying to do it all at once.

📋 Fair Weekend Schedule

Confirmed hours below are drawn from the fair’s food booth and attraction hours; a full event-by-event schedule for 2026 had not been separately published as of this writing — check the official site closer to the date for exact show times.

📌 Essentials

🏛️ A Fair Since 1905

The Madoc Agricultural Society organized on May 30, 1905, drawing 90 members within a month and covering a fair district spanning Madoc, Elzevir, Huntingdon, Marmora, and Rawdon Townships. That first fair ran September 14 and 15 on rented land on the old Marmora Road. By 1922, under President John C. Smith, the Society purchased the 49-acre “Charles Farm” property northeast of the village — the same grounds the fair calls home today — and volunteers built a half-mile race track, an exhibit building, a poultry building, and livestock sheds.

The fairgrounds kept evolving: a new show ring in 1989, a Demolition Derby ring added in 1990, and a commemorative stone placed at the Main Gate for the fair’s 100th anniversary in 2005. The Municipality of Centre Hastings built the on-site arena in 1976, and Maguire’s Motocross Racing Series ran on the grounds for several years. More than a century on, the fair is still run by the same kind of volunteer board that started it.

🚗 Getting There

The Madoc Fairgrounds sit at 45 Cooper Road, just northeast of the village of Madoc in the Municipality of Centre Hastings, roughly midway between Belleville and Bancroft along Highway 62.

💡 A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Go

🎟️ Bring cash or a card for ride tickets. There’s no presale, so you’ll buy on-site — a single-day bracelet at $35 makes sense if the kids want to ride more than about a dozen times.

💥 Get there early Saturday for the derby. The Derby Booth food service and demolition derby crowd tend to fill up fast in the evening — arrive with time to find parking and a seat.

🎈 Catch County Balloons on Saturday. They run 10 AM to 4 PM and are an easy stop for younger kids between livestock shows.

📝 Homecraft exhibitors should call ahead. Contact the Homecraft coordinator for an exhibitor number before fair weekend rather than trying to register at the gate.

❓ Common Questions