Tavistock Ag. Society to hold Festival of Lights

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Tavistock Agricultural Society has heard what the public wants and is working hard to give it to them.

“The fair board has decided the community wants a bigger midway,” said ag. society board member Val Jones. “We heard what people said, so we have committed to going bigger than what we did this year and with that comes a huge price tag.”

The ag. society runs the Tavistock Fall Fair and the biggest complaint following this year’s event was a midway that didn’t attract enough traffic. Jones said 14 local organizations have committed to putting up light displays at the first ever Festival of Lights at Queens Park.

“We are working on having the pavilion open each night of the displays and having some sort of entertainment. On Friday nights, there will be pony rides, we are working on an open mic night, an urn building one night with outdoor greens, anything to bring the community out to see the lights. We are working so hard to put it together.”

The event is free for the public to attend but donations are welcome. Each light participant is paying for a spot in the festival and Jones added they are also looking for vendors for a Christmas market. The lights will be on from Nov. 22 to Dec. 14 on Friday and Saturday nights from 6-9:30 p.m.

“We aren’t having a great commitment from vendors, so I’m not sure where we are going to end up with that. It’s all brand new at this point, but in the next week we will have more details.”

Jones said they are trying to hold a special holiday event for the community at Christmas that has worked well in other areas and something she said Tavistock needs.

“We are setting up the displays along the walking path by the pavilion in Queen’s Park and we will figure out the electrical needs. This will be the first annual event and I hope everyone is patient.”

Jones is encouraging residents to follow the Tavistock Fall Fair social media pages for updates on the Festival of Lights as well as other fundraisers.

The fair board is also looking for new volunteers, preferably younger and newer citizens.

“Absolutely. We need three directors, and the way our constitution reads, we will be looking for two or three new directors each year.”

Jones added the fair board, for many members, is a family tradition, but new blood is the best way to come up with new ideas.

“We want to know what the new people in Tavistock want to see in a fair. For some of us, we go because we have done it every year of our lives, and the weekend after Labour Day is the Tavistock Fall Fair. But what do those people want and how do we engage them?”

Jones explained running the fair takes an incredible amount of work and the more help and new ideas they receive, the better.   

The ag. society has two other fundraisers on the go, one a wine order from Konzelmann Estate Winery in Niagara and a Let’s Get Plastered art workshop on Nov. 29.