Topsfield Fair 2010

[nonelvis]

We spent most of yesterday with family and friends at the Topsfield Fair, a 192-year-old agricultural fair held about half an hour north of us, in Topsfield, MA.



The sleepy goats from yesterday's APAD(ish) shot.



Possibly a bunny; possibly a bedroom slipper.



I have totally non-ironic love for the vegetable dioramas made by local kids; they're my favorite part of the fair, right after the deep-fried cholesterol-on-a-stick fair food. (This year's unintentional commentary on the American diet: a giant helping of french fries served in a cardboard dog dish.)

Anyway, it seemed like there were fewer dioramas this year, but we loved the ones we saw. Like the Pumpkin Medusa:



Not a diorama, but still cute: the artichoke hedgehog!



The squash people, made mostly of delicata squash, with hydrangea hair and acorn eyes. I LOVE THIS.



As usual, I avoided the carnival rides, since I'm never convinced they're safe, but this one was very tempting: you get sealed up in an inflatable plastic balloon and can roll around a pool. (I saw something similar to this on an episode of The Amazing Race once, and was dying to try that then, too.)



There were also several stations for the creatively named "Jumpy Thing," bungee-cord tethers you could use to bounce high in the air:



My nearly four-year-old niece enjoyed it a lot, but she'll do better next year when she's stronger and weighs more:



For some reason, the big prizes this year were giant stuffed bananas in both plain and Rasta versions (complete with dreadlocks):



More photos in the complete set on Flickr.

Comments

[jigglykat.livejournal.com]

I worked at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa for a few summers, and it was terrifying how fast the rides were put together and taken down.

BUN. I WANT A BUNNY SO BADLY. I want pets in general, but having a dog with my work schedule isn't so great, and I have no interest in cats. I figure a rabbit could work.

[bunny42.livejournal.com]

I looked up diorama, and I still don't understand why the Medusa was one, but the hedgehog wasn't. I always thought they involved a scene of some sort, an event or historical period or something.

You'd never catch claustrophobic me inside one of those balls...

The Palm Beach County Fair is huge and ungainly, noisy and crammed with midway rides. Buuuuuuuut, there's the bunny tent and the dog training competition; there're cows and chickens and homemade jams and jellies and crafts; there are art exhibits from all ages of kids (and grown-ups) and prize veggies, everything you'd expect at a county fair. My brother and I wandered out there, one year, and caught a concert by a local high school jazz band. What an unexpected treat! He also spent an inordinate amount of time talking to the blacksmith fellow, who had his own building. Great fun, even without all those rides...

[platypus]

I love fairs. There's a mall by me that has those bubbles-on-water things, but I've never seen anyone actually in them.

[nonelvis]

The bunnies were all adorable. I have no idea how to take care of one, though.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

You can hire the bubbles-on-water things at beaches here -- strangely, it never even crossed my mind you could put one in a pool...

Also, looking at the Flickr set, I have to say I've never seen those "Outback jackets" in my life. But the ones on the right look the rainproof ones farmers wear. (Not so much in the Outback. Not a lot of farming out there.)

[nonelvis]

I looked up diorama, and I still don't understand why the Medusa was one, but the hedgehog wasn't.

... because I forgot to point out that the Medusa wasn't one either? (There are more actual dioramas in the Flickr set, including Cerberus and the Boston Celerytics.)

[nonelvis]

It looked like fun, but as my friend jagpatel pointed out at the time, they also looked like giant disease vectors.

[nonelvis]

I think the bubbles would be a lot more fun on a beach, if only because there's a lot more room to play with!

Also, it turns out that booth I told you about is for walkabout.com, which claims to have been importing Australian products to the U.S. since 1989. I'm still kind of dubious, though, especially if you say you've never seen these jackets before.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

It looks like a generic outdoor-gear company with an Australian theme. CULTURAL APPROPRIATION ZOMG! /Absolutely did not spend weekend making kimonos for cosplay. NO, REALLY.

[mmancuso.livejournal.com]

The plastic floaty balls reminded me of that bit in The Avengers opening credits where Steed and Peel are in big ones, large enough to stand up and walk. Calmly and demurely, of course.

[elliptic-eye.livejournal.com]

Those goats, my word. They're like the head of a bunny on the body of a dog and there's just no saying no to the combination.

Also, your fairs have way cooler rides than ours. I'd have been on those things like Glenn Beck on his hanky.

[xeney.livejournal.com]

Love Medusa but I am totally stealing the Yo Gabba Gabba pumpkins just above her. I've been trying to figure out how we can let our three-year-old decorate pumpkins without giving her a knife, and that is perfect.

[nonelvis]

I'm not remembering that bit from the credits, but it sounds like something they'd do.

[nonelvis]

The baby animals are always super-cute. There were a couple of young calves in a nearby barn with eyes so big and dark it practically looked like they were wearing mascara. (I think columbina may have photos of them, but he hasn't posted them yet.)

[nonelvis]

Is that what those are? The eyes looked South Park to me, but the pumpkins didn't look like any South Park characters I'd seen before.

[xeney.livejournal.com]

Yeah, from right to left, it's Toodee, Brobee, Plex, and then you can see Foofa at the end.