The Drayton Fair has gone ‘Over the Top’ in their 155th year.
The Mapleton Madness 1st Annual Pro Am Arm Wrestling Tournament will be held at the fairgrounds this year. The competition will be divided into categories with children, amateur, women and pro classes all competing for the top title in their divisions. There will be prizes for the top three competitors from each weight class, and anyone who wants to take part can sign up on the day of the event.
The arm wrestling event will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. with weigh-ins and registration starting at noon.
Another new attraction at this year’s festival will be children’s entertainer, Mike Fisher, aka the Amazing Captain Corbin.
Billed as a magical pirate, Corbin’s “Boatloads of Fun” show is a 40-minute performance of pirate hijinks and adventure ending with the pirate’s hidden treasure found and given to the audience.
For the most part, the fair will see the return of old favourites like the tractor pull, midway, and animal shows and keeping with this year’s theme – ‘Farming Through the Years,’ the show will have exhibits ranging from hay and grain and roots and vegetables, pickles and preserves.
Gates open Friday at 5 p.m. with the midway and exhibits of crops and culinary arts. There will also be vendors on site selling crafts and jewellery and the popular truck pull is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.
The show arena will be busy Saturday, starting with the heavy horse show at 10:30 a.m., followed by the goat show, dairy show, arm wrestling and pet show.
Other events outside the ring will be a baby show, garden tractor pull and the day winds up with a tractor show at 6 p.m.
Events kick off on Sunday with the miniature horse show, beef show and sheep show. Entertainment for the afternoon will be the demolition derby starting at 2 p.m. with three different classes including four cylinder cars, full size cars and half ton trucks.
There will also be a fully licensed beer garden all weekend and coffee and breakfast will be available on the grounds Saturday and Sunday mornings.
“It’s going to be a great weekend with a lot of family fun and we are excited about the changes we have made to this year’s line up,” said Eliza Dippel, secretary of the Drayton Mapleton Agricultural Society.
Admission to the fair is $10 for adults and $25 for the entire weekend; children 12 and under are free.
There are also midway passes available for $25.
