Summer festivals and events are in full swing in municipalities across Wellington County, including Mapleton Township, which will host three of its more popular events over the next several weeks.
Two Cylinder Show
This weekend the annual Upper Canada Two Cylinder Show will take place at the Drayton Fairgrounds.
It kicks off Friday – with the 35 years and older, all makes antique stock tractor pull at 5pm and a ladies fashion show at 7:30pm – and runs until Sunday.
The gates open at 8am on Saturday and featured events will include an auction (tractor-related items) at 1pm, a tractor parade at 3pm, John Deere and guest (Allis-Chalmers) tractor pull at 4pm, a beef dinner at 5pm, free corn roast at 8pm and a jamboree and dance with the Bill Beattie Band at around 9pm.
On Sunday, a church service will start the day at 9am, followed by modified lawn tractor pulls at 11am and another parade at 4pm.
During all three days, those in attendance will also be able to visit the mercantile building, witness live demonstrations, watch sawmill and threshing presentations, enjoy a variety of food and even camp nearby the action. The event will also feature draws for a specialty quilt, pedal tractor, wrench set and toy show tractor.
Billed as a true family event, the show also features various activities for children, including crafts and toys, “kiddie” tractor pulls, a bouncy castle, slide and face painting clowns.
For more information about the show, contact Brian Sharpe at 519-745-9712 or visit uppercanadatwocylinderclub.ca.
Drayton Fair
The 155th annual Drayton Fair will take place in two weeks – from Aug. 5 to 7 – at the Drayton Fairgrounds.
The event, organized annually by the Drayton Mapleton Agricultural Society, will this year employ the theme of “Farming Through the Years.”
The festivities begin the evening of Aug. 5, with the gates, the exhibits and the midway all opening at 5pm, followed by truck pulls at 6:30pm – definitely one of the highlights of the fair.
On Saturday, Aug. 6, the gates open at 7:30pm, with exhibits starting at 10am and shows – including heavy horses, goats, and dairy cattle – beginning half an hour later. The midway opens again for the day at 12pm, while garden tractor pulls start at 1pm, followed by a pet show at 2pm, entertainment by the Amazing Captain Corbin at 3pm, a baby show at 4pm and tractor pulls at 6pm.
Gates open at 7:30am on Sunday morning (Aug. 7), with a miniature horse show and exhibits starting 90 minutes later. At noon the beef cattle show kicks off and the midway opens. The demolition derby, traditionally held on the Friday evening of the show, will be start at 2pm on Sunday this year.
Throughout the fair various goods, food and refreshments (including a beer tent) will be offered by vendors. Coffee and breakfast will be made available on both Aug. 6 and 7.
For more information about the fair, contact Eliza Dippel at 519-638-2950.
Underground Railroad Music Festival
The 3rd annual event, which was launched in honour of the Underground Railroad and the early black pioneers of the Queen’s Bush settlement, will run on Aug. 13 from 12 to 7pm at Centennial Park in Drayton.
Headed by singer-songwriter Diana Braithwaite, who started the festival in 2009 as a tribute to the lives of those men and women who first settled in the area, the festival has been moved this year from Glen Allan Park to Drayton due to construction taking place this summer in Glen Allan.
Braithwaite, herself a descendant of the Queen’s Bush pioneers, said this year’s festival will include no fewer than nine musical acts, with styles including jazz, blues, rock, swing, gospel and “Negro spirituals”.
The event will also feature food as well as stories about how black slaves in the U.S. escaped to start new lives in parts of former Peel Township between 1820 and 1867.
Everyone is welcome at the event. Tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for youths aged 12 to 17 (kids are free if accompanied by an adult). Tickets will be available at the event, but Braithwaite encourages everyone to purchase tickets online at www.ticketscene.ca.
For more information, visit www.braithwaiteandwhiteley.com and click on “Music Festival.”
For a feature story on the Underground Railroad Festival, see the July 29 issue of the Wellington Advertiser.
