Renfrew Fair returning this September

RENFREW, ONT. -

After a year away, Renfrew’s biggest event - the Renfrew Fair - returns to town at the end of summer.

The fair is set to run at the Renfrew Fairgrounds from Thursday, Sept. 9 to Sunday, Sept. 12. Organizers are hopeful that the event won’t look too different than what people remember and love so much.

"We have horse shows, cattle shows, a reduced midway; we’re having 11 rides and games, and food concessions in our midway," the fair’s general manager Judy Dobec told CTV News Ottawa. "We cut the Wednesday out of the fair, so we’re a four-day fair this year instead of a five day fair. Therefore we don’t have a demolition derby this year."

"The aspect of looking at the fair it might look a little smaller and we’re down about half the rides from other years," adds the fair’s president, Jim Enright.

Dobec says historically the fair would draw 30,000 visitors over its five-day span. With the public urge to get out to normal activities once again, Renfrew’s BIA is anticipating an influx of people to town.

"With the fair coming we’re kind of hoping that we do see a lot of unfamiliar faces because we do have a great town and a great fair, a great main street," says Christina Ouellet, chair of the BIA and owner of The Flower Factory on Raglan Street. "We’re very excited. I think everybody in this town, especially with back to school coming; we definitely count on the Renfrew Fair happening."

Although the event was only cancelled for one year due to COVID-19, people are ready for one of the Ottawa Valley’s best fairs to return.

"It was one of the best fairs in the whole region," says Mary Poirier, who travels from Pembroke to attend the Renfrew Fair. "When the kids were little we brought them on a regular basis, it was the only fair we attended."

Dobec says as a thank you to visitors for coming back to the fair, a ticket price of $5 a person will be offered the entire weekend.

"Now that you say it’s running we may consider it because one of the kids may be old enough to bring," says Poirier.