I’ve heard a number of people refer to this past summer as being

“awful”! I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder! Frankly, Judi and I

thought it was a great summer! The weather stayed fair enough that we were able to visit most the festivals and events that we planned to. Yes,there was some rain, but was normally short lived. The other nice thing about the weather for us was that it was not too hot. I know that some of you might think that this is a negative, but when you are walking through an outside event, cooler temperatures are more than welcome!

That being said, this was a summer season of wonderful festivals and

events. In the early summer, June, we visited several terrific music

events. The first was Welland’s IlluminAqua; it was followed quickly by the Canadian International Military Tattoo in Hamilton and a week later, the Burlington Sound of Music Festival. At the end of the month I drove to Harriston for the Canadian Red Neck Games!

On the first day of July, Canada Day, we visited 4 different community celebrations, Brighton, Warkworth, Campbellford and Hastings. That started of a month of traveling… Brockville for Riverfest, Prescott for the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, Smiths Falls for the Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival and finally, Wasaga Beach for the Siege of Wasaga. August’s events were very diverse. There was the Mill Race (Folk) Festival in Cambridge/Galt, the Festival of Textiles at Lang Pioneer Village, the Buckhorn Fine Art Festival, Harvest Fest at Fanshawe Pioneer Village, the Toronto Zoo’s 35th Anniversary

Celebration and towards the end of the month, the Bobcaygeon Wine and Food Festival.

By Gary McWilliams, the Festival Nomad

1 How Was Your Summer?

1 “Did You Ever Have One of

Those…?”

3 A Month of Fall Fairs

3 Festival Ideas – Making the

4 Festival Tips – How Not to

It all started out at the beginning of the month! I was in a Tim Hortons

parking lot, driving very slowly, when a “large” pick-up truck with a

“huge” tow hitch backed into me! I got out of the car to check the

damage and found a gapping hole in the rare passenger’s side quarter panel! The truck’s driver was apologetic, but the damage had been done! This tied my car up for several days while the damage was being

repaired! Please see Did You Ever… on page 2

Please see How Was Your Summer?… on page 2

In the middle of the month the hard drive on my computer

died! The good news is that I had back up my computer

recently. The bad news is that I was without the use of my

computer for almost two weeks! If you have ever had to

replace a hard drive you will know it’s not just a matter of

turning on your computer and your back up and running. You

may have saved your information, but not your programs!

EVERYTHING has to be re-installed! So, if you have misplaced

disks or put them in that “perfect place where you know

where to find then when you need them!”, you will know what

a “pain” it is to re-construct your computer! I am still working

on bringing my computer back to “life”! As you know,

challenges (NOTE: I am calling them “challenges” instead of

“problems”… I’m a positive type of guy!) usually come in

threes, so I was waiting for the “other shoe to drop”! It did,

near the end of the month! Judi had had a small tooth ache

that finally turned into a “BIG” tooth ache! She tried to

“tough” it out but finally the pain became too intense. She

called her dentist for an appointment expecting a couple of

fillings. She came out of the dentist’s office with TWO teeth

pulled! To top things off, the pain continued for over a week!

Talk about your bad month! As a result we didn’t get to as

many events as we had planned. In fact, we only made it to

two, the Kingston Fall Fair and Dine and Shine at Lang

Pioneer Village. To those events we apologize. We will try

again next year. October looks much better, so we should be able to make up for September’s lost visits.

October 3rd – Toronto Argonauts Game – CFL Football

October 4th – Applefest at Lang Pioneer Village

October 10th – Norwood Fall Fair

October 17th – Fright Night at Fort Henry

October 24th – Amish Tour (possible)

Along the way we were treated to great music, delicious

food, full bodied wine and lots of fun! We met wonderful

people at all the events we visited. Each time they

treated us with kindness and respect. We even

participated as models in the period fashion show at Lang

Pioneer Village’s Festival of Textiles. The greatest

honor, however, was at the Canal, Railway and

Chocolate Festival in Smiths Falls. Chairman Jim

McPherson surprised us by presenting us with a wonderful

framed print depicting Smiths Fall. The original painting

was by artist John Cullen. The painting now proudly

hangs in my office and reminds me each day of Smiths

Falls and its amazing citizens! Needless to say, we had a

GREAT summer!

How Was Your Summer? ... from page 1

Did You Ever ... from page 1

“Steak Cook Off”

“Waiting to be judged”

Sometimes you may go to an event that does not meet your

expectations. What do you do? Do you turn around and go

home or do you make the most of it? Judi and I feel that you

should stay and try to “make the most of it”. Who knows,

you might just be surprised! There may be something you

missed at first look, an exciting ride, an interesting exhibit

or, perhaps a later event. Having an open mind and looking a

little harder may reveal a real “gem”. The big thing is to find

a schedule of events or to approach an event organizer to

find out what “things of interest” are happening later in the

day. If after checking things out there is still nothing of

interest, don’t let the disappointment ruin your entire

outing! Look for other forms of entertainment.

Here are a few ideas.

* See if there is a fun park close by or an interesting

attraction close by and then check it out

* Try taking a unique route home, one that you haven’t

traveled before. There may be interesting towns and

landscapes along the way.

* Stop along the way and visit unique and fun shops

“Cooking corn on the open fire!”

October is the month of freshly harvested produce, autumn

colours and fall fairs! One of the best fairs is coming up

soon. The Rockton World’s Fair will be held on October 9-

12, 2009! The fair was originally known as the Beverly

Agricultural Society Fair. Back then the prize money was a

whopping $194.50! Since then the fair has grown and

changed and so has its name. So how did it become the

“World’s Fair”? The story, according the fair’s website goes

something like this, “In 1878 Andrew Kernighan commented

at Rockton". In 1966 the fair officially became the Rockton

World’s Fair. It may not be a “World’s Fair” as we have

come to know them, but is certainly a “world class fair”!

The fair now has 500 volunteer members, 1,200 exhibitors

and $80,000 in prize money and it hosts over 100,000

visitors! This year’s fair looks bigger and better then ever!

From the calf judging to the horse jumping and from The

Gathering Place to The Meeting Place, the Rockton World’s

Fair has everything a family would want and expect from a

Fall Fair! Take a ride back in time and find out why the

Rockton World’s Fair is a “world class fair”! Check out

their website at

http://www.rocktonworldsfair.com/index.htm.

Please see Festival Ideas… on page 4

P.O. Box 272

Cobourg, ON K9A 4K8 CANADA

E-mail: info@ontariofestivalvisited.ca

In order to save on the cost of going to festivals and events and to eat healthier meals, Judi has been making and packing picnic lunches for us to take to the festivals and events we visit! We’ve been doing

this since the beginning of August and it’s been going very well, until now! Each time Judi carefully thinks through what we are going to eat and what she needs to pack. She includes such things as forks, knives, spoons, salt, napkins, etc., all of this along with our food and beverages. To preserve the food in the hot weather and to keep our drinks cool, we have a thermal lined picnic bag. As I said, all was well until last week! Judi prepared and packed the food as usual. Our recyclable water bottles were freshly filled and also packed. We loaded everything into our car and then headed for our destination! We were going to visit the event in the morning and then head to Wellington to visit my brother Chuck and his wife, Flo. After the festival visit we went back to the car, ready to have our picnic lunch. We wanted to eat before we headed out to Chuck and Flo’s. Judi opened the thermal bag and let out a loud scream and then a low

moan! This was followed by a few well chosen words! I can’t repeat them here! The bottom of the bag was completely filled with WATER! We had just purchased new water bottles and had not tested them out!

The contents of the water bottles had leaked! Everything was soaked and the water bottles were empty! Even though the sandwiches had been carefully wrapped, the water had managed to seep in! They were just nicely soggy! I was hungry and needed to eat, so I sucked in a big breath and bit into the soggy sandwich! Needless to say, the lunch was not quite what we had in mind when we started out that

morning! So, here is my FESTIVAL NOMAD advice for the day… “Check out your new water bottles for

leaks BEFORE you pack them with your lunch!” Also, take your mother’s advice, “Never eat a soggy

sandwich!”

“A Fashionable wagon ride”

Festival Ideas ... from page 3

* Depending on the time of year and the region you are

traveling, there may be other things to interest you. For

example, if you are traveling in the Niagara region or

Prince Edward County there are lots of vineyards to

explore. If you are in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, there

are many beautiful farms and quaint hamlets to

investigate

* If you’ve planned ahead like Judi and I do, you will

have packed a picnic lunch. Find a scenic place to stop,

relax and eat. If you have also packed some games for

the kids,! this would be a good time and place for them

to “blow off steam” and have some fun

* Make arrangements to visit friends or family along the

way back home

Some of the ideas outlined above may take a little preplanning,

but I think you will be glad that you took my

advice! It’s not that you are looking for a “bad” festival

or event. It’s just that you are aware of the possibility!

Whatever you decide to do, make the most of your day!

TO FINISH READING ANY OF GARY'S ARTICLES, and PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS, VISIT HIS WEBSITE HERE: ONTARIO FESTIVALS VISITED