We're Off To The Fair!

Two weekends ago (my time DOES fly!) I had the pleasure of attending The Royal with my friends.

For those that might not know, The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair takes place every November in Toronto. It's a great family event and experience for students to learn all about best in agriculture, local food, and equestrian competitions from across the country. It's the largest combined international equestrian competition and indoor agricultural fair in the world!

A little more history on The Royal, from their website:

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is the product of the vision and determination of a handful of industrious farmers just after the First World War. Lead by W.A. Dryden, a Shorthorn cattle breeder from Brooklin, Ontario whose idea it was to create a National agricultural exhibition that would be the showcase of the best of the best in Canadian agriculture. Dryden saw this as a way to help improve all domestic animal breeds and establish national judging standards. So in 1918 he gathered all the prominent livestock associations together and outlined his vision for the exhibition. This group agreed with Dryden's vision and set up a committee with Dryden as its chairman. The original name of the committee was The Agricultural Winter Fair Association of Canada, but was later changes to The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Association of Canada after His Majesty King George V granted permission to use the word "Royal".

It took Dryden and his committee another 4 years to see their vision become a reality when the first Royal Agricultural Winter Fair opened November 22, 1922. 91 Years later The Royal remains the main event in the agricultural calendar for farmers, horse lovers, livestock breeders, buyers, sellers, food lovers and visitors young and old. No other fair or agricultural exhibition can compare to The Royal, where each year, champions are crowned from the best of the best in Canadian agriculture.

My favourite part has always been seeing the animals! Sheep, goats, pigs, alpacas, llamas, cows, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, chickens... whew! I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

"If I see this on Instragram... I swear by my pretty floral bonnet: I will end you."

Bees! So very important to the environment in more ways than I could count! We spent a good five minutes trying to find the elusive queen, sadly with no luck.

For the little ones, and big ones, there was a petting zoo filled with goats, sheep, a cow, and even some alpacas. I think this is the one part I wish I could have gotten better photos.

"I find your lack of butter disturbing."

Talk about playing with your food! The butter carving competition looked fierce. Blue ribbon for second place, and a red ribbon for the winner! Of course I had to add in Darth Vader himself.

This something I definitely need to work on - my action photography. I have so many shots of the equestrian competition, and only a few came out with any sort of clarity of the horse and rider. My friend gave me a few tips on the fly, the results of which you can see above. Her advice - instead of staying stationary as the horse comes through the frame (and hoping to catch the horse in a clear shot) follow the horse through the course and keep it at the centre of the frame while shooting.

Practise will certainly make perfect with this technique.

What else do I love about The Royal? The food, of course! I don't have any photos to share because it's very difficult to taste all that deliciousness while holding a DSLR in one hand. I tasted artisan cheeses (who knew you could flavour goat cheese in so many tasty ways?), pleasing jams (of which I took home a jar of wild blueberry), Canadian-made teas, (Canadian Shield sounds like a great tea for cold and flu, doesn't it?), and I purchased a starter kit to grow quinoa at home. The food court featured fair favourites like poutine, funnel cake, and CORN DOGS! This food has a special place in my heart, so of course I had to get one. There were also more international items like fajitas, tacos and sushi, as well as wraps, bubble tea, smoothies and so many other vendors it's all a colourful blur.

I loved going to The Royal as a child on field trips and that love has stayed with me into adulthood as I can now appreciate even more all that it has to offer. 

Until next year!

Creatively Christine