Westport Town Fair

Every town has it's traditions. Westport is a farming community first and foremost, so it is more than fitting that one of it's famous annual traditions is a Town Fair. And for those of you who think that it is an ordinary fair, it is anything but ordinary. You'll see. This was the 55th Annual Westport Town Fair.

You know it's a big deal when you wait in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour, in a town where the closest thing to traffic is a slight delay if a tractor pulls out to cross the road.

As we waited in traffic, we passed endless pastures with cows meandering through the tall grass. I smiled to myself as I thought about the little town where we reside, where they recently posted signs on main roads that state it is "A Right to Farm Community". Westport is beautiful and I love that you can be driving along, whether we are heading to the grocery store or to the beach, and you are bound to see some sort of farming equipment. During the summer months, you are also most likely to see a fresh produce stand, complete with fresh flowers and a jelly jar for people to leave payment for their zucchini or sweet corn.

We drove around the bend in the road and as we inched forward we could see the parking lot through the trees. And there was no longer any question as to why there was such a long wait. There were rows upon rows of shiny cars for as far as we could see.

As we entered into the field, where cars were parking like dominoes, one after another I was again reminded that we were heading to the Westport Fair. We passed huge trucks, modified and jacked up with giant tires. We saw a variety of tractors being towed on trailers. We laughed as we saw the biggest and most ridiculous yellow truck (if you can call it that). Yup, we were in the right spot!

We patiently waited in line, purchased our little yellow admittance tickets at the entrance booth, immediately handed the tickets to the man at the gate, and we were in!

This is one of the main reasons I love the Westport Town Fair so much. Oh yes, you guessed right, it is a pig race. It is guaranteed to make you laugh.

We arrived as the sun was setting and we walked around, taking in the rides, the food, the vendors, and planning our attack.

We watched as people screamed as they spun in circles, defying gravity.

Little kids giggled as they begged their parents to let them go down the giant slide, just one more time.

There was every type of fair food imaginable, from glistening candy apples to crispy fried dough and steaming pizza to heaping plates of french fries. Talk about Martin being overloaded with choices :)

We stopped to watch the tractor pulls, oh yes you read that right, TRACTOR PULLS. I was so astonished that there is still a fair that has this activity and it is the 21st century. Surprisingly, it is the center of the fair, and is a blast to watch! We watched the tires spin and the engines roar for a while, then headed to the rides.

This was a cross between the zipper and a ferris wheel. And of course, Ant was all for getting Jac on it.

With the night sky behind it, the carousel was beautiful. There were crowds of people everywhere, laughing, giving high fives, waving hello to people they had not seen in awhile, and enjoying the busy vibe.

The carousel was very antique-looking, with detailed horses and bright lights surrounding all sides.

Mothers clutched their little ones, looking on with amazement as they spun in a circle, lights reflecting off everything now that it was dark outside.

Over in the far corner of the fairgrounds is where we found the famous Rosie's Racing Pigs. I wouldn't miss this event and although it's over within twenty minutes, it is by far one of the top ten funniest things I have witnessed. The man who runs the race used to be in the television business, training pigs for Green Acres, among other famous television shows. And he sure can play up the part. He comes out dressed in jean overalls and a plaid shirt, complete with a straw cowboy hat.

The race is tailored to the kids in the audience, and he sends the little pigs racing around his track, wearing #1 through #4. There's cheering and the whole crowd loves it.

The pigs race, but it's funny when everyone looks at one another when he announces that "Rosie Won!", even when she comes in dead last. See that last pig? That's Rosie. She won according to him. (I think he might be biased.) Everyone just laughs because who is going to challenge a pig trainer in jean overalls? Not me!

Rose comes out between races to perform tricks. Every trick involved food and most often it is the tip of his boot that is unrolling the carpet, or a swift kick that sends the basketball along the track. By far, the best trick ever was when the trainer blatantly (oh...I'm sorry, I mean Rosie) pushed the little monkey in the carriage. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. We all cheered and winked at one another as the kids looked on in awe.

We meandered through the crowds, back to the rides, where we waited in line. We sipped cold, fresh lemonade, which had an entire lemon inside the cup! We discussed whether people dress up in plaid to attend the fair or if that is their everyday attire. Some were questionable.

The rides were bright, the food smelled delicious, and as the night went on more people poured in to enjoy a friday night at the fair.

Jacquie was a great sport and even as she watched workers grab the outside handle and spin the riders around and around even before the ride started, she went for a spin and had a great time.

We laughed as we watched Ant try his hardest to flip the cart, sending them twirling through the air. He finally got it, he even held them upside down with the brake. No rides for me...I prefer snapping pictures and cheering them on from the ground.

There were games set up with mini Nascar races, water guns, and ball throwing. Plush stuffed prizes hung from the ceilings and vendors invited the crowds to step forward and try their luck.

Martin, Ant, and Jac headed for the Round Up next. I seriously contemplated riding this one.

Then I came to my senses.

I almost had a heart attack as I realized that it was MY husband that was pushing his head above the top so that he could wave. I'm pretty sure I closed my eyes...and I was standing still.

Then it was time to decide on food and to sit and enjoy the tractor pulls. Now, if you've never had the pleasure of watching a tractor pull, it's pretty interesting. The contest on friday night was all about the Weight Transfer Sled. It is a contraption that holds concrete slabs and gets hooked to the back of the tractor. They have to see how long they can pull it and whoever reaches the end gets sent to the next series of "pulls".

There is a crew that waits to hook up each tractor, and if you look closely you can see the guy who gets to ride on the side of the sled. As the tractor makes it's way down the track, the concrete slabs move closer, making the weight heavier and harder to pull.

The contest is held in three segments. First, the farm tractors puttered down the track, pulling 5,000 lbs. Second, the modified farm tractors pull 5,400 lbs. And last but not least, the homemade tractors pull 7,200 lbs and up. Now, homemade sounds wholesome and nice. These tractors are serious and have racing motors. They are loud, they spit dirt, and the wheels are taller than me. Martin LOVED watching them.

It doesn't sound very exciting, but it is. There are no words. We were all cheering by the end, peering through the dust to see if the current driver made it to the end or if they dug themselves into the dirt race track.

We munched on fresh french fries and sipped cold drinks. Martin ate a cheeseburger corndog, we shared an Italian sausage, and we all passed around sweet handfuls of cotton candy.

We had such a good time, laughing as we cheered on the "rust buckets" and held our breath as wheels spun and tractors did wheelies.

This tractor was our favorite and came in second overall. He was a trooper. He's clearly a serious tractor puller...he has a racing suit...only at the Westport Town Fair.

As the "homemade" tractors were weeded out and one by one they were eliminated, they continued to add more weight to the sled. These concrete slabs swung into place, and even still the last two tractors pulled them to the end, eventually ending with a win around 12:30am. Oh yeah, we stayed until the end.

They wheeled the sled back and the tractor pulling went on all weekend. That was it for Friday night though. We walked along the wooden bleachers, watching the lights slowly start to turn off as vendors packed up and headed home for the night. We had such a great time and once again I feel so lucky that we live in a place where a Town Fair is still so fun and honest. There's nothing like going to a small town fair to start your weekend off right.