TOPSFIELD — For only the third time in its two-century history, the Topsfield Fair will be canceled this year.
The Essex Agricultural Society, the organization that runs the fair, announced Wednesday that for the safety of fair-goers, staff, volunteers, vendors, exhibitors, and sponsors, it has made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s event.
James O’Brien, the fair’s general manager, said the organization had a conference call with the state’s Department of Public Health on Friday, and, ultimately, it was decided proper safety guidelines would be impossible to implement, especially in only two months.
“We’d have to start setting up now,” O’Brien said. “We just couldn’t find a way we could operate.”
O’Brien said the Essex Agricultural Society has been monitoring local, state, and federal guidelines and recommendations on the COVID-19 pandemic for months.
“We understand the impact of this decision for small businesses, family farms, competitors, and exhibitors and the disappointment of hundreds of thousands of people who look forward to the Topsfield Fair each year,” O’Brien said. “However, the safety and health of our community has to be our top priority and due to the current restrictions, hosting the Topsfield Fair this year is impossible.”
As America’s oldest fair, founded in 1818, the Topsfield Fair has only been canceled two other times. In 1918, all agricultural fairs in the state were canceled due to a worldwide influenza pandemic, known as the Spanish Flu, and again from 1943-1945 for World War II.
When the fair returned in 1946, it opened to record-breaking attendance. O’Brien said the Essex Agricultural Society has already started planning the 2021 Topsfield Fair, with hopes that a similar rebound can happen.
“We’re already working on next year’s fair and have been since before this decision,” O’Brien said. “We hope we can have the performers — Marie Osmond, .38 Special, Phil Vassar — see if we can roll them into next year. Because they’ve been looking to work too, it’s not just us.”
The Topsfield Fairgrounds, in the meantime, won’t be completely inactive, O’Brien said. A drive-in theater is at the fairgrounds, with showtimes and tickets available at www.topsfielddrivein.com.
Also, the team at Essex Agricultural Society will be looking to provide virtual children’s entertainment in lieu of fair activities this fall, and further details will eventually be put up on the fair’s website, www.topsfieldfair.org.
“We are looking at the potential of hosting some of our contests privately to continue that tradition and we will make any contest-related announcements if and when the details are finalized,” O’Brien said. “Everyone associated with the Essex Agricultural Society and the Topsfield Fair looks forward to better days ahead and celebrating the 2021 Topsfield Fair in October 2021.”
The Topsfield Fair’s cancellation is the latest in a series of cancellations of New England’s major fall fairs. The Big E in West Springfield and the Deerfield Fair in Deerfield, N.H., were canceled in June, and the Fryeburg Fair in Fryeburg, Maine, has decided to hold a “virtual fair” this year.
