Doesn't matter where you come from.
Doesn't matter how old you are.
Once you pass through the gates at Old Home Week you're just another kid at the fair, propelled forward by the sights, sounds and smells that are part and parcel of a provincial exhibition.
"You never get too old for the fair," says Eleanor MacDonald, of Summerside. "I remember my first trip to the fair when I was eight or nine like it was yesterday and I'm 72 today. I still get excited about going to the fair to see the quilts in the Women's Institute Building, take a look at the cattle and see what the kids in 4-H are up to."
And for MacDonald there was no shortage of beautiful quilts to admire, there was livestock to fawn over and there were a number of 4-H projects worth having a gander at.
For three-and-a half-year-old Will Montgomery of Summerside Friday afternoon at the fair meant the chance to play with some really cool tractors in the 4-H area.
While the crowds weren't huge Friday afternoon there were still a lot of people around, especially little people.
And for many of those little people the main attractions included a kid-sized tractor pull and international bubble artist Geoffrey 'Merlin' Akins.
Akins, who's based in Woodstock, Illinois, wowed his audience of little people and many of their parents by doing things with bubbles they had never seen before.
That included fully encasing people in giant bubbles, producing square bubbles and creating volcano bubbles that shot steam into the air, and through it all he inspired children with a message that anything is possible.
"He was awesome," seven-year-old Graham Roberts of Halifax said. "He made smoke come from a bubble. That was so cool."
For those looking to get their juices flowing a little faster the midway was in full swing and there were plenty of takers.
But it wasn't all play Friday.
In anticipation of Saturday's livestock judging there were cattle to be groomed.
Clippers, brushes and hoses were put to good use to make sure everybody looked their best.
"The work never ends when you've got animals to look after," said Pete Andersen, a retired Saskatchewan farmer here on holiday. "I didn't even know there was a fair here until somebody told me. I had to drop down and see the livestock. Old habits die hard. Some very nice looking Holsteins."
And when people began to run out of steam there were enough food stations with enough offerings to give everyone a chance to rest, recharge and go back at it again.
Times may change, interests may change but the pull of the fair is still very much there.
Doesn't matter where you come from.
Doesn't matter how old you are.
Once you pass through the gates at Old Home Week you're just another kid at the fair, propelled forward by the sights, sounds and smells that are part and parcel of a provincial exhibition.
"You never get too old for the fair," says Eleanor MacDonald, of Summerside. "I remember my first trip to the fair when I was eight or nine like it was yesterday and I'm 72 today. I still get excited about going to the fair to see the quilts in the Women's Institute Building, take a look at the cattle and see what the kids in 4-H are up to."
And for MacDonald there was no shortage of beautiful quilts to admire, there was livestock to fawn over and there were a number of 4-H projects worth having a gander at.
For three-and-a half-year-old Will Montgomery of Summerside Friday afternoon at the fair meant the chance to play with some really cool tractors in the 4-H area.
While the crowds weren't huge Friday afternoon there were still a lot of people around, especially little people.
And for many of those little people the main attractions included a kid-sized tractor pull and international bubble artist Geoffrey 'Merlin' Akins.
Akins, who's based in Woodstock, Illinois, wowed his audience of little people and many of their parents by doing things with bubbles they had never seen before.
That included fully encasing people in giant bubbles, producing square bubbles and creating volcano bubbles that shot steam into the air, and through it all he inspired children with a message that anything is possible.
"He was awesome," seven-year-old Graham Roberts of Halifax said. "He made smoke come from a bubble. That was so cool."
For those looking to get their juices flowing a little faster the midway was in full swing and there were plenty of takers.
But it wasn't all play Friday.
In anticipation of Saturday's livestock judging there were cattle to be groomed.
Clippers, brushes and hoses were put to good use to make sure everybody looked their best.
"The work never ends when you've got animals to look after," said Pete Andersen, a retired Saskatchewan farmer here on holiday. "I didn't even know there was a fair here until somebody told me. I had to drop down and see the livestock. Old habits die hard. Some very nice looking Holsteins."
And when people began to run out of steam there were enough food stations with enough offerings to give everyone a chance to rest, recharge and go back at it again.
Times may change, interests may change but the pull of the fair is still very much there.
