History

Contact Barbara Hill, Superintendent of History Hall for questions about the history of Fryeburg Fair.

It was a chilly day in March of 1851 when a few local farmers and merchants got together and decided to show off their harvest, produce, cattle and wares to the community. Since those humble beginnings, Fryeburg Fair, Maine's Blue Ribbon Classic, is Maine's largest agricultural fair second in New England in size only to Eastern States in Massachusetts. Today Fryeburg Fair sits on 185 acres and has over 100 buildings. The eight-day fair hosts over 3,000 animals including prize-winning draft horses, ponies, racing horses, oxen, dairy & beef cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, rabbits and much more. Maine's Blue Ribbon Classic is always during the first week in October. Fryeburg Fair has flourished since that first fair when William Walker of Lovell won $3 for the best acre of corn and William Spring of Brownfield earned $1 for the best seed wheat. Fryeburg Fair attracts more than 225,000 people annually. See our full history & timeline stories below.