Paris Fair becomes tradition for many families

The 166th annual Paris Fair is a last hurrah for area children before they start a new school year.

Attending the five-day long event at the fairgrounds in Paris has become a tradition for many families.

Joseph Quinto of Kitchener and his wife Maria Predusca brought their three-year-old son Andreas to the fair Sunday for the first time.

“He’s starting school on Wednesday, so we decided to start a new tradition of coming here every Labor Day weekend,” said Predusca.

“I’ve been coming since I was pretty much his age,” explained Quinto. “This always held a lot of childhood memories. I’m sure there are still some wrinkles that I rode when I was his age. It’s kind of nostalgic.”

Rick Miller of Burford and his son Joe have enjoyed some father-son time at the fair for the past 14 years.

“We have such a great time here,” he shared. “The food you have you only get at the fair. And the rides of course, and the games.”

Joe helped his father overcome a fear of heights as the pair ascended a long staircase, burlap bag in hand, to glide down a giant slide in the midway area.

“It was a magical moment,” said Rick.

Cathy and John B. Lee of Port Dover brought their grandsons Cayden, age 10, and Coby, 6, to the Paris Fair for the second consecutive year, noting that they would normally go to fall fairs in Simcoe and Ancaster that are closer to home .

“I like the fact there’s so much agricultural information, especially for the kids,” said Cathy. “They have displays, such as a cow’s four stomachs, that kids had no knowledge of, and milking demonstrations. Things that are unique to an agricultural fair.”

Their grandsons volunteered to be part of the Circus Dubois performance by standing between the two performers as they juggled six large pins between each other, tossing them above the boys.

“I was scared that I was going to get hit in the head,” admitted Coby.

The weekend weather was “perfect fair-going” weather according to Sydney Adams, chair of the gates committee.

“Attendance has been great,” she said, noting that 15,000 people attended Saturday, “which is one of our best days. Prior to that we did about 8,000 on Friday, and about 4,000 on Thursday evening.”

Adams said misting tents were in place to help cool people down as temperatures soared above 30 C on Sunday.

While the fair had several new offerings, returning performers and acts such as motocross stunt riders, demolition derbies, and concerts by country music stars Tim Hicks and Josh Ross provide consistency that keeps people coming back.

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