Family Fun Since 1765
July 30, 2021 (Windsor, NS) – The oldest agricultural fair in North America will move to a modified format in 2021 to safely operate within puoblic health protocols.
In March the Exhibition Association of Nova Scotia announced that all traditional ‘in person’ fairs and exhibition in Nova Scotia would be cancelled again in 2021 due to Covid-19. Indiidual fairs could go forward with scaled down events meeting public health protocols.
The Hants County Ex Farmers’ Market at the Fairgrounds is a project of the Not-for-Profit Windsor Agricultural Society. The market, new in 2021, is a member of the Farmers’Markets of Nova Scotia Cooperative Ltd. As a member we adhere to the same principle of “grow it, make it, or bake it”. The mission of the Market is to provide a direct market venue for producers of local goods and services to engage with the community in a convenient, and accessible location. In 2021 the market will be outdoors to better work with restrictions surrounding Covid-19.
The Fairgrounds is home to the Oldest Agricultural Fair in North America. The first fair was held at Fort Edward in 1765 on the only passable road from Halifax. It was in essence, a farmers’ market with vendors selling products grown in what was known as the province’s “bread basket”.
If you would like to be a vendor, please email an application. See you on Thursday evenings June through October!
In January, the Windsor Agricultural Society was pleased to hold its Annual General Meeting of Directors. The Society undertook to review and approve its minutes of the previous year as well as a review of its operations and and its financial statements. This meeting was held virtually due to restrictions surrounding Covid-19.
The Windsor Agricultural Society continues to retain and attract an exceptional group of individuals in our community as members of its Board.
For the 2021-2022 we are pleased to welcome new directors and local business people Jon Strum and Jason Casey. We wish to thank departing directors Josh Dill, Rod Corkum, and Stephen Rafuse for their time and commitment to the Society.
Ryan Knowles, President,
Joel Rafuse, Vice President
Kim Frank, Secretary
Directors: Cynthia Duey, Janice Keith, Brad Hood, Wyatt Oulton, Jared Burgess, Peter Francis, Jennifer Lindsay, Bailey Collins, Jon Strum, and Jason Casey
Hants County Ex 2020 – Virtual Fair – THANK YOU!
Thank you to all of you for your support of this year’s 255th “New, Oldest Fair” – the Hants County Exhibitions first virtual fair.
“Five Days of Fair Life” ran as a video series on our Instagram and Facebook accounts. Hopefully these five short videos were able to help keep the spirit of our fair alive in your hearts.
We are really appreciative of all the comments we are receiving about the “Five Days of Fair Life” videos. For this reason we want to take a moment to share your appreciation and ours, to recognize the young (super tech savvy) people who brought this concept all together.
Gillian Davidson and Michael Congdon, our summer students, managed the on line competitions from top to bottom and created each class category slide show video.
The awesome marketing videos (as well as Casey/Hennebury, and intro videos) were created by Riley Strowbridge of Uncharted Creative Media and Brett Mosher from Catch the Wave Marketing.
Ian Swinamer of Swinamer Media handled all of the interviews, final editing, as well as production of the final product. He also produced the history video. Ian sat patiently with me for days paring down all of our footage to five 20 minute videos. I don’t know what I would have done without him.
We have very talented young people amongst us! I’m so proud of them. And Jane Lukerr was exactly as awesome as I expected her to be as intro host. Thank you for watching, and see you in person in 2021.
Five Days of Fair Life – 255th Hants County Ex – 2020 Virtual Fair.
Week Three and Four Winner for “Vegetable Garden Bounty” and “Most Unique / Unusual Vegetable” was Tracey Warner. Congratulations Tracey Warner for being our Week Three and Four winner in the Beauti-Tone Paint Garden Challenge!
Week Two Winner for “Most Inventive Vegetable Gardening Experiment or Solution” was Nancy Miller. Congratulations Nancy Miller for being our week one winner in the Beauti-Tone Paint Garden Challenge!
Week One Winner for “My Home Vegetable Garden” was Ryan Drew. Congratulations Ryan Drew for being our week one winner in the Beauti-Tone Paint Garden Challenge!
Beauti-Tone Paint Garden Challenge Winners (August 6 – August 27)
In January, the Windsor Agricultural Society was pleased to hold its Annual General Meeting of Directors. The Society undertook to review and approve its minutes of the previous year as well as a review of its operations and and its financial statements.
The Windsor Agricultural Society continues to retain and attract an exceptional group of individuals in our community as members of its Board.
For the 2020-2021 year we are pleased to announce new and returning Directors for the Windsor Agricultural Society / Hants County Exhibition are as follows:
Ryan Knowles, President,
Josh Dill, Vice President
Kim Frank, Secretary
Directors: Rod Corkum, Cynthia Duey, Janice Keith, Stephen Rafuse,
Brad Hood, Wyatt Oulton, Jared Burgess, Peter Francis, Jennifer Lindsay, Eugene Swinamer, Joel Rafuse, Bailey Collins
The Windsor Agricultural Society is pleased to announce Group ATN (GATN) as the successful proponent of our recent request for proposals for a Business and Concept Plan for Hants County Exhibition and HCEx Park.
Group ATN provides a diversified consultancy serving the public and private sectors, First Nations and Aboriginal Interests and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). Group ATN also specializes in tourism analysis, communications and marketing.
The oldest Agricultural Fair in North America, Hants County Exhibition, is planning a kitchen upgrade for community functions, and local food demonstrations and tastings.
Thank you to Pioneer Seeds for offering this amazing $50,000 grand prize! And thank you to our community for voting daily to make this prize a reality. Stay tuned as we finalize our plans. Here’s to hometowns!
On January 29 2019, the Windsor Agricultural Society was pleased to hold its Annual General Meeting of Directors. The Society undertook to review and approve its minutes of the previous year as well as a review of its operations and and its financial statements.
At a time when many small not-for-profit Society’s are challenged to find and replace new directors, this year, the Windsor Agricultural Society was very pleased to secure the support of 6 new directors.
New and returning Directors for the Windsor Agricultural Society / Hants County Exhibition include the following:
Ryan Knowles, President, Josh Dill, Vice President
Harry Ullock, Melanie Francis, Rod Corkum, Cynthia Duey, Kim Frank, Jane Kerr, Janice Keith, Stephen Rafuse, Andy Woolaver, Brad Hood, Wyatt Oulton, Jared Burgess, Peter Francis, Jennifer Lindsay, Eugene Swinamer, Joel Rafuse.
The Windsor Agricultural Society is pleased to annouce that their facilities will be host to the Erin MacQuarrie Dressage Clinic – August 3 and 4 at Hants County Exhibition Park. The clinic will offer a limited number of spaces on a first come first serve basis for $250 +HST (includes two semi private 50 min lessons and weekend stabling).
Whether you are schooling to improve your performance in hunter/jumper or in the dressage ring, this is a great opportunity to work with an Equine Canada certified Competition Coach Specialist in a large indoor arena in a small riding group of two.
Erin has over 100 students competing at various levels including FEI Jr and NAYRC, and she’s brought many horses from training level through to Grand Prix with much success. It will be a great learning weekend in Windsor. Don’t miss it.
For more details contact: Hantscountyex@eastlink.ca for registration.
Please share the news!
Please note The deadline for proposal submissions has been extended to Monday, January 21, 2019 at 4PM. All other submission requirements remain the same.
There are exciting times ahead as the Windsor Agricultural Society embarks on a new journey in reviewing and charting its future course and direction.
The process begins with the issuance of our business case and concept site plan RFP (“request for proposals”).
Please feel free to share our RFP with qualified individuals or companies that you know who may have an interest in responding. Closing date for responses is January 21st. Thank you.
With its RFP out for tender (due Jan 15th) there are exciting times ahead as the Windsor Agricultural Society embarks on a new journey in reviewing and charting its future course and direction.
The process begins with the issuance of our business case and concept site plan RFP (“request for proposals”).
Please feel free to share our RFP with qualified individuals or companies that you know who may have an interest in responding. Closing date for responses is January 15th. Thank you.
On Thursday Dec 20th, Scott Brison, MP King’s South announced the funding being made available through the federal governments infrastructure and renewal program for a new arena to be built on the Windsor Agricultural Society grounds. 4.4 million dollars was announced federally coupled with an increased provincial allocation of $3.7 million. When combined with the funds allocated by the Municipality of West Hants 2.3 million and the Town of Windsor (1 million), total committed funds to date add up to $ 11.1 million.
The new facility will incorporate an ice rink, walking track and indoor soccer field. It was quoted many times during the announcement as a game-changer for the local area and a tremendous step forward in community and economic development.
During the announcement MP Brison also commented on the plans for the new equestrian and agricultural facility that are being worked on by the Windsor Agricultural Society. Its new facility is intended to provide the community with a much needed, year-round multi-purpose facility for their agricultural needs.
The board of the Windsor Agricultural Society (WAS), welcomes Lisa Hines as incoming General Manager of Hants County Exhibition Park and the Hants County Exhibition, North America’s Oldest Agricultural Fair, in Windsor Nova Scotia.
Hines has been an active WAS director, and is a lifelong fair lover with ‘exhibition in her blood’. Grandfather Herb Coombes, a local farmer, served various terms as a WAS director, including 1949 when the current exhibition site was purchased. Her late grandparents were firm believers in the educational value of agricultural exhibitions, and had a strong influence on the number of school days missed by their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren during exhibition week. Father Dave Coombes, a career fair manager, was at the helm of HCEx for 53 years until he passed away in March 2018. Hines filled in as manager for the 253rd year of the fair.
With a Bachelor of Design in Communication (NSCAD), 30 years of project management experience, along with a lifelong interest in agriculture, Hines brings a wealth of experience to the position. Consistent with the beliefs instilled by her grandparents, she has been instrumental in the development of Future Farmers Friday, a school learning program hosted by HCEx, going into its sixth year.
Hants County Exhibition Park has forever been a happy, busy four season family destination for Hines – through exhibition, pony club, 4-H, horse and poultry shows, and hockey. She looks forward to working with staff, directors, and volunteers through the coming challenges and opportunities, and is proud and humbled to be carrying on a family tradition.
To prepare for changing times the WAS is currently seeking Requests for Proposals for a business and site concept plan for HCEx Park. For information on the RFP; booking our multipurpose facility for a show, festival or event; sponsorship opportunities; or upcoming events please contact us.
Hants County Exhibition Park is located just off highway 101 at exit 5a, 40 minutes from HRM. 2019 exhibition dates are September 13-15 and 20-22.
As the Windsor Agricultural Society begins the process of charting its new course, it has taken the time to review the feasibility study provided as part of the Arena Project analysis in 2017.
The study is valuable in its assessment of the area for entertainment facilities (the arena) and the overall market demographics of the area.
A copy of the analysis can be accessed via the image link below.
*Due to the file size it is better to simply download a copy [“Click” image below and when the pdf file opens – right click it and select “Save As”].
