{"id":13883,"date":"2019-10-08T08:47:21","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T12:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=13883"},"modified":"2019-10-08T08:47:21","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T12:47:21","slug":"topsfield-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2019\/10\/08\/topsfield-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Topsfield Fair: Wonderland’s Guide To The Marvelous Agricultural Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual\u00a0Topsfield Fair<\/a>, which runs from Oct. 4 to 14 in Topsfield, Mass., is known for its giant pumpkin growing contest; for its barns full of poultry, rabbits, sheep and cows; for country and pop singers (Tommy James and the Shondells on Oct. 9, Creedence Clearwater Revisited on Oct. 12); for quilters and beekeeping and sand-sculpting; for its monster trucks and demolition derby. Below is our guide to navigating all the amazingness.<\/p>\n

Photos copyright 2019 Greg Cook.<\/em><\/p>\n

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If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Marvel at the strength of horses<\/h3>\n
\"Horse<\/a>
Horse pulling in the Arena, Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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See what amazing scarecrows the Wong family has sculpted this year<\/h3>\n

For years, two branches of the Wong family have been competing back and forth in the agricultural fair\u2019s annual scarecrow contest and regularly beating all other entries from the region.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve done crows, nightmares,\u201d Gail Wong of Topsfield told me back in 2013. \u201cWe\u2019ve done flying monkeys. The year the Bruins won, we did the Bruins bear holding the championship trophy over his head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Great<\/a>
Great horned owl scarecrow made by the Wong-Rapuano, Scholes and Harubin families of Boxford, Massachusetts, and Atkinson, New Hampshire, Family of Topsfield, from phragmites, curly kales, corn leaves, silk, husks and stalks, artichoke, thyme, mandarins, and trumpet vine pods. Inside the Fruits & Vegetables Barn at the Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Poseidon<\/a>
Poseidon scarecrow made by the Wong Family of Topsfield from wild rhubarb leaves, wild cucumber, leaves, burdock, phragmites, cabbage, corn, trumpet vine pods and artichoke. Inside the Fruits & Vegetables Barn at the Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Ponder how big a pumpkin can get<\/h3>\n
\"Alex<\/a>
Alex Noel’s 2,294.5-pound pumpkin, which won the35th anniversary All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off, inside the Fruits & Vegetables Barn at the Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Get picked from the audience to help race a mallard duck<\/h3>\n
\"Great<\/a>
Great American Duck Race at Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Ask yourself does this pheasant remind you of the president?<\/h3>\n
\"Red<\/a>
Red golden pheasant (foreground) and Elliots pheasant outside the Poultry Barn at Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Pet a sheep (or goat or horse or cow)<\/h3>\n
\"Petting<\/a>
Petting sheep from New England Equine Rescue at the Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Celebrate decorative gourd season<\/h3>\n
\"Decorative<\/a>
Decorative gourd art inside the Fruits & Vegetables Barn at the Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Take a ride at the carnival<\/h3>\n
\"Rollercoaster<\/a>
Rollercoaster and Wacky Worm Photo’s at Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Marvel at the carnival art<\/h3>\n
\"Wizard's<\/a>
Wizard’s Wand attraction at Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Feed the birds<\/h3>\n
\"Chicken<\/a>
Chicken inside the Poultry Barn at Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Dream of what you’ll plant in your garden next spring<\/h3>\n
\"Garden<\/a>
Garden display by Northeast Nursery of Peabody inside the Flowers Barn at Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Admire some pig<\/h3>\n
\"Pig<\/a>
Pig Barn at Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Don’t buy these T-shirts<\/h3>\n
\"T-shirt<\/a>
T-shirt vendor at Topsfield Fair, Oct. 6, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The annual\u00a0Topsfield Fair, which runs from Oct. 4 to 14 in Topsfield, Mass., is known for its giant pumpkin growing contest; for its barns full of poultry, rabbits, sheep and cows; for country and pop singers (Tommy James and the Shondells on Oct. 9, Creedence Clearwater Revisited on Oct. 12); for quilters and beekeeping and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,108,119],"tags":[620,619],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13883"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13892,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13883\/revisions\/13892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}