Last weekend we took a family trip to the iconic Sandwich Fair. Located in the beautiful town of Center Sandwich just south of the White Mountain National Forest and north of Winnipesaukee Lake this historic fair’s origins date back to 1886! The fair draws so many visitors over it’s 3 days that the town arranges parking in fields a mile or so back from the fair itself and runs free shuttle buses to the gates. Riding a yellow school bus turned out to be one of Alex’s favorite parts of this adventure!
School bus Mommy school bus!
We entered at Gate A, near the Midway and rides. Tickets were $10pp, under 7 is FREE. Youths 8-12 $3.00. Tickets included admission to all events and shows, so if you don’t need to drop a lot of money on buying “ride tickets” this is light on the pocket book. We only bought 5 ride tickets, for 5 bucks, so Alex & I could ride the carousel., which cost 3 tickets ($3).
Gate C, near the rides
Most of the rides in the Midway are for bigger kids than Alex so we strolled around and caught the second half of an “interesting” automated “vegetable” show.
Melody Farms Show
Soon we met up with some good friends & neighbors whose child had shared some time in daycare with Alex so the two have become little buddies. Rowan got his 2nd trip on the Carousel with Alex then we all went in search for some food.
Alex riding with his buddy Rowan
There is a huge variety of fair food here making deciding a bit tricky. We settled for a couple enormous Italian sausage subs with all the fixings, and a family sized bowl of hand cut fries. A bit of homemade root-beer washed it all down and we headed off to the catch some of the main parade.
Busy!
We ended up near the horse show ring when a slalom race was about to begin. Alex loved being able to watch the riders maneuver their horses through the course only 20 feet from his spot at the fence!
Eyes on the rider
Mommy & Alex watch a racer
Alex’s grandparents arrived and we decided to check out some of the indoor exhibits, sheep shearing, 4H projects, livestock, and outdoor band, but first Alex’s buddy Rowan had to head home so it was time to say goodbye.
So flippin’ cute
Mooooooo
After trying some fried pickles and fresh fair lemonade we decided it was time to roll. We hopped the school bus shuttle back to our car and headed for home. Alex made about 1.5 minutes of driving before falling asleep.
This fair is a NH classic and we’ll be making this an annual event. It happens every Columbus day weekend, with the Saturday being called “Kids Day” and the Sunday “Family Day”. Either day has plenty to do for everyone. Next time we’ll remember a picnic blanket (because I’ll re-read this post).
Did you go to a fair like this when you were a child? What was your favorite fair memory? Comment below!
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