Cultivating Community: Women and Agricultural Fairs in Ontario

For close to two hundred years, families and individuals across Ontario have travelled down country roads and gathered to enjoy seasonal agricultural fairs. Though some features of township and county fairs have endured for generations, these community events have also undergone significant transformations since 1850, especially in terms of women’s participation.

Cultivating Community tells the story of how women’s involvement became critical to agricultural fairs’ growth and prosperity. By ...